Seduced
by Otaku Maiden
Summary: After a nasty breakup, Ben gets swept off his feet by a handsome pursuer. Is this his Prince Charming, or is he way over his head?
1. Chapter 1: Awry Relationships

_**Disclaimer:**__ Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and its affiliating characters are the property of Man of Action. If I had any ownership of them, the show would have some yaoi and would have been a part of Adult Swim._

_**Summary:**__ After a nasty breakup, Ben gets swept off his feet by a handsome pursuer. Is this his Prince Charming, or is he way over his head?_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Awry Relationships**

The sight of two green-eyed heroes arguing on their cell phones was a strange, yet interesting sight for the visitors of Burger Shack. Granted, the eavesdroppers were only hearing one end of the heated conversations, but it was obvious – the Tennyson cousins were having relationship problems. And listening in on the Tennysons was fascinating; it was just difficult on choosing which argument to focus on more...

"Look, Julie...I'm sorry I had to cancel our date last night, but there was an emergency..." Ben tried to say calmly to his girlfriend on his phone.

"Kevin, I don't care what lame excuse you have for not meeting me and Ben this morning! You should have been there to help!" Gwen chastised her boyfriend on her phone.

"What do you mean I'm being egoistic?" Ben's voice rose.

"You're so unreliable it's disgusting!" Gwen yelled.

"Well excuse me for risking my life on a daily basis to keep the universe safe!" Ben yelled.

"I am so sick of your sneaking off for some get-rich-quick schemes! Why do you find it so hard to be responsible and think of someone else besides yourself?" Gwen screamed.

"You know what?" Ben fumed. "I'm hanging up before we both say something we can't take back!" Ben quickly pocketed his cell inside his jacket and let out a laboured sigh.

"Kevin, you jerk!" Gwen yelled. "You're seriously pissing me off! We're done!" Gwen ended her called and let out a frustrated grunt.

Ben and Gwen had their backs to each other during their arguments, shoulders shaking from the tormented magnitude of the heated clash against their so-called 'sweethearts'. After releasing a frustrated sigh, Ben turned to Gwen, hoping she could help him get through his fight with Julie; facing his cousin, Ben saw the hurt and frustration in Gwen's eyes. "Gwen?" Ben whispered.

"Kevin and I just broke up..." came the quiet response. Ben moved to hug Gwen but she pushed back. "Don't bother, Ben." Gwen said. "This was a long time coming." The redhead squared her shoulders and said, determinedly. "I should have dumped his deadbeat ass for all the shit he has put me through!" Gwen's eyes gave a menacing flash of mana for a moment, thinking about the betrayal when Kevin went to her enemies during his second mutation and the hurtful things he's said and done during his third mutation.

Ben rested a hand on Gwen's shoulder, hoping to calm her. "Maybe you should talk with Kevin; you know, face-to-face..."

"What's there to talk about?" Gwen gave Ben a deadpanned stare, shaking off the sympathetic hand. "To think, the different guys who showed an interest in me, and I foolishly turned them down because I was stupidly with Kevin? Like I said, Ben; Kevin and I are over." Gwen turned around, walking out of the Burger Shack parking lot.

"Gwen, where are you going?" Ben was concerned; even though there was finality in Gwen's voice about her breakup with Kevin, he knew that she would be emotionally unstable.

"What does it look like?" Gwen said. "It's time for me to find a new man!"

* * *

For the next few days, things were strenuous for the heroic team.

Even though Ben knew he should try to fix his relationship with Julie, he had to fix the dynamics of his team first. Kevin and Gwen refused to talk with each other, which made the atmosphere between the threesome more unnerving, considering the cross-fire during a battle; this situation made Ben very uncomfortable. After each mission, Gwen would take off to meet a new guy for a date, leaving Ben and Kevin together. The tension was always thick; once, Ben tried to get Kevin to talk but Kevin just withdrew within himself. _'Right,'_ Ben thought, _'I completely forgot that Kevin hates to talk about his feelings...unless it's food-related...'_ Either way, Ben felt that he should keep an eye on his rogue friend, if anything to keep him out of trouble or act as a buffer when he might do something stupid...or suicidal.

Currently, the boys found themselves at Mr. Smoothy; Kevin drinking a soda, while Ben drank a mango- blueberry-radish smoothie. Not far from their table, Gwen was flirting with a new boy; he seemed a little older than her, maybe 18-years-old, tall and muscular, dressed in dark blue pants, a white polo shirt and black blazer, with black hair and hazel eyes. Unfortunately for Gwen, the guy seemed uninterested.

"You know," Kevin said, startling Ben that he was actually revealing some emotion since the breakup. "I was kinda pissed about the breakup with Gwen, but seeing her bombing with this guy is makin' my day."

"That's a horrible thing to say!" Ben tried to chastise Kevin, but slightly slipped a smile. For Kevin to finally talk about his feelings was progress. "She's still my cousin!"

"Yeah, yeah...I know." Kevin dismissed. "But doesn't a part of you kinda get some pleasure when your ex, who puts you down in the worst way, gets some type of just deserts?"

Ben thought about what Kevin said. Part of him wanted to continue to defend Gwen, but she did treat Kevin like she owned him while they were dating. As Ben contemplated on what to say, he was brought out of his thoughts by Kevin laughing at Gwen. "Aw man! Didn't you see that?" Kevin scoffed. "Gwen completely humiliated herself in front of that guy – _again_!"

"What do you mean _'again'_?" Ben inquired.

"I saw her trying to flirt with him yesterday and at some point a bird shit on her head!" Kevin laughed. "Now, judging by that dude's facial expression, I'm guessin' Gwen _'let one rip'_!"

Ben didn't know if he should laugh or comfort Gwen after the humiliation. As Ben was preoccupied with his inner musings, oblivious to his surroundings, the boy Gwen tried to flirt with walked passed his table and Kevin laughed even harder. Gwen joined the guys, resting her head on the table, and then let out a frustrated scream.

"What the hell is wrong with that man?" Gwen shrieked.

"Well farting while flirting could be the killer..." Kevin smirked. Ben kicked him under the table and gave him a _'Don't be a total jackass' _glare.

Gwen glared at Kevin. "He said that I wasn't his type. He said that he preferred a _'sporty brunette'_. Like, what the hell? Do I have to dye my hair and wear track suits so he would pay attention to me?"

"Gwen, you shouldn't change who you are just for some guy you barely know." Ben lectured. What extremes do girls put themselves through for a guy?

"Nah!" Kevin interrupted. "First of all, you'd likely screw up and turn your hair into some sick barf colour," Kevin started to chuckle. "And you would need some serious plastic surgery to become his type!"

"Kevin!" Gwen yelled, scandalised that Kevin would suggest such a thing

"That was out of line..." Ben reprimanded.

"I can tell you flat out that Gwen ain't his type." Kevin looked Ben in the eyes. "You are. You didn't see that guy eyeing you when he walked pass our table?"

Ben was speechless and blushed as Gwen gave him and Kevin menacing glares. "I'm gonna call Julie and try to fix things with her." Ben got up from his seat and sternly looked at his cousin and best friend. "I expect you two to talk things out and not kill each other when I get back." As Ben walked away, Gwen and Kevin were left with an uncomfortable silence.

"So, what the hell are we suppose to talk about?" Kevin asked.

Gwen's eyes briefly flashed pink before addressing Kevin. "How about how badly you treated me?"

"How badly I treated you?" Kevin was angered by Gwen's thoughtlessness. "What about all the times you made me feel inadequate? The times you made me feel stupid and self-conscious? The times you called me selfish for not being around you and Ben?"

"Kevin, you are selfish!" Gwen roared. "Only someone who's selfish would pick money over being there for his friends while they're in danger!"

"Gwen, you want to know why I wasn't there when you and Ben go on Plumbers assignments before giving me the full details of a mission?" Kevin asked darkly. Gwen paused, seeing the hurt expression on Kevin's face. "I was helping my cousin get out of an abusive relationship and care for her kid so that sick fuck she dumped won't go after them!"

"I...I...Kevin, I'm so sorry." Gwen felt guilty. "I didn't know..." How could she be so insensitive to Kevin's family life? Gwen knew she was out of line for calling Kevin selfish; only someone with a heart would try to help someone who was being abused. No amount of apologising could fix her friendship with Kevin.

Kevin didn't answer back. Gwen hurt him deeply for what she said when she broke his heart. And he really didn't see himself going back in a relationship with her; after helping his cousin, Kevin realised that Gwen was emotionally abusive and he deserved better. As Kevin was about to respond to Gwen's apology, he saw Julie enter Mr. Smoothy with some blond guy. "Who the hell is that with Julie?"

As Gwen turned around to see her best friend with some tall blond guy, what happened next shocked both her and Kevin. Julie kissed the boy, for everyone to see.

"Oh my God..."Gwen gasped.

"What are we gonna tell Ben?" Kevin uttered.

* * *

_I think I'll stop here... Things will intensify in later chapters._

_What do you think so far? Good? Bad? Review and let me know!_


	2. Chapter 2: Broken Hearts & Change Of Lif

_**Disclaimer:**__ We know the drill when it comes to disclaimers... don't own any portion of the Ben 10 franchise, blah, blah, blah! I am simply borrowing the characters for my sick little amusement. Now that that's out of the way, on with the story!_

_**Warning:**__ Some foul language and explosive temper from Gwen. Can't really blame her..._

**Chapter 2: Broken Hearts And Change Of Lifestyle**

* * *

Kevin and Gwen were shocked to see Julie, of all people, cheat. Especially since she wasn't just cheating on some random guy; she was betraying Ben!

"Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!" Kevin panicked.

Gwen tried to hush Kevin during his panic attack. "Shush, Kevin! We need to figure out a way to gently break this to Ben."

"Gently break what to me, Gwen?" Ben asked as he took a sip from his new smoothie cup. Gwen felt her blood run cold, hearing Ben's voice beside her. As long as he didn't turn his head in Julie's direction, that would buy her some time to figure out how to tell him that his girlfriend was cheating on him. "I tried calling and texting Julie, but no answer." Then, what Gwen and Kevin were hoping not to happen, wishing for once that Ben's obliviousness would make an appearance but didn't, Ben's eyes shifted from his friends to where his _supposed_ girlfriend stood. There Julie stood in the middle of the Mr. Smoothy lot, making out with another boy, for everyone to see. "Oh my God..." Ben whispered, dropping his smoothie on the ground. Gwen looked up to look into Ben's eyes and saw the tears welding up. His shoulders started shaking, distressed apparent in his stance. Before Gwen could say anything, Ben ran out of Mr. Smoothy.

"We should follow him." Kevin said, getting up from his seat.

"Not yet." Gwen seethed. "Not until I have a few choice words for my _former_ best friend..." Gwen moved from her seat and stomped to where Julie was. The ominous aura of Gwen's posture told everyone at Mr. Smoothy that Gwen was someone not to quarrel with. "Julie, you _bitch_!" She yelled while firing a ball of mana that exploded near the unsuspecting couple, frightening Julie and the boy she was embracing. "How dare you whore around town behind Ben's back?" She threw another blast of mana, barely missing the dark-haired tennis player. "You couldn't just break it off in person; you couldn't even do the cowardly thing by texting that it was over?" Gwen threw more sparks of mana, purposely missing Julie, her rage frightening the patrons of Mr. Smoothy. "_You two-timing gutterslut! I hate you for what you've done to Ben!_"

The blond looked scared and confused. "Wait," he turned his attention to Julie. "The inattentive boyfriend you were talkin' about is Ben Tennyson?" He turned his attention back to Gwen and stuttered, "I didn't know she was dating Ben Tennyson! I swear! As far as I'm concerned, it's over!" He ran away, hoping to avoid the explosive temper of the cousin of the hero who has saved the earth several times.

"Gwen, I..." Julie began to stammer.

Gwen fired another warning bolt of mana at Julie. "As far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me." Came the cold response. "Don't you _ever_ come near Ben again! If I see you anywhere near him...if you ever hurt him like you did just now..." Julie gasped, realising that Ben must have witnessed her cheating. "I will make you _suffer_!" Gwen stomped away, followed by Kevin, searching for Ben.

After fifteen minutes of walking the neighbourhood, they eventually found Ben leaning against a wall by an alley, his head looking down and his arms draped around his small physique. Gwen moved to Ben's side, gently placing her hands on his cheek and chin, lifting his head so that she could look him in his eyes. The look of exhaustion in his dimmed green eyes and trails of tears on his cheeks broke Gwen's and Kevin's hearts. Instinctively, the redhead wrapped her arms around the brunet, the raven hugging them both, as Ben let a new stream of tears fall.

* * *

For the next two days, Ben had been ignoring all phone calls from Kevin and Gwen. Deeply concerned for Ben's state of mind, Gwen asked Kevin to drive her to Ben's place. Even though their friendship was rocky, they agreed to set aside their differences for Ben's well-being.

As they reached the simple home, Ben's father greeted them at the door. "Thank you for coming, Gwen. You too, Kevin."

"Hi, Uncle Carl." Gwen smiled weakly to her uncle. "How's Ben?"

Carl led Gwen and Kevin to Ben's room. Blaring behind the closed door was loud, angry music. The choice of music troubled them; Ben usually listened to pop, R&B, or hip hop, not alternative rock-metal. Especially of the feral, enraged kind. "He refuses to eat and as you can tell, he's at the angry-music phase of the breakup." Carl sighed. He hoped that his niece could reason with Ben; this depressing side was foreign to Ben's good-natured disposition. As Carl opened the bedroom door, the trio saw Ben curled up in bed holding an old teddy bear; the curtains closed gave the room a sombre feel. "I'll leave you kids alone." Carl left the teenagers alone, hoping that Ben's friends could help him.

Gwen was the first to move from the door and sat at the edge of Ben's bed. Kevin took a seat at the computer. Trying to lighten the mood, Gwen joked, "I thought you would have gotten rid of Furry Freddy a long time ago..."

"Go to hell, Gwen." Was the icy response.

Gwen and Kevin didn't know how to react to Ben's tone. It wasn't like either of them could chastise him for the way he spoke; he was obviously devastated after finding out that his girlfriend was cheating on him and lashing out. Kevin was about to suggest going for a smoothie run, but it dawned on him quickly that Mr. Smoothy was the site of betrayal and Ben wouldn't want to go there anytime soon, if at all.

"Ben, it will be okay." Gwen soothed, running her fingers through Ben's once-silken hair. "If it makes you feel any better, I almost blew Julie up..." Ben's eyes widened slightly, looking at Gwen.

"Yeah!" Kevin added. "Gwen scared the shit out of everyone! It's already gone viral with over a million hits!" Who knew Gwen would have the temperament to attack someone to that magnitude?

Ben was almost flattered that Gwen would go that far for him. He slowly moved into a sitting position on his bed, his knees drawn up to his chest, resting Furry Freddy on his lap. Ben's slender fingers began to numbly tug on the teddy bear's ears.

There was a look in the green-eyed hero's eyes that Kevin caught. Like Ben had something figured out. Kevin was concerned; especially considering how shattered Ben was just moments ago. "Hey, Tennyson," Kevin leaned forward in his chair, getting Ben's attention. "You gonna be okay?"

Ben stared at Kevin, then at Gwen, briefly before returning his gaze to the bear on his lap. After a moment passed, he set his eyes back to his friends, who looked worried. "Yeah," came the soft response. "I'll be fine now that I know..."

"Know what?" This cryptic behaviour of Ben's disturbed Gwen. She hoped that her cousin wasn't thinking of doing something rash or dangerous to hurt himself. "What do you now know, Ben?"

"I'm done with women."

Kevin laughed nervously. "Come on, Ben. Quit foolin'."

Ben shifted his gaze between Kevin and Gwen again. There was decisiveness to his words. "I'm serious, Kevin." Ben articulated. "I'm done getting my heart stomped on by girls who use me. "

Kevin was speechless. Gwen was in a state of shock. "Ben," Gwen whispered, her mind swimming with what Ben was trying to tell them. "What are you saying?"

"Gwen," Ben whispered. "I'm gay..."

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**__ Ben's finally batting for the other team! Let's face it, it's bound to happen; every girl Ben has dated or was interested in used him; case in point – Kai Green was only interested in the Yenaldooshi (Benwolf) form, so she could train and tame him like a dog; Elena Validus manipulated him to get on the soccer team and get her father back from The Hive (Ben would have done it anyway, but she didn't have to be sneaky about it!); Jennifer Nocturne used Ben as a publicity stunt for her career; and let's face it, Julie's smart enough to know that Ben's abilities would eventually become public and she could use it to her advantage (who wouldn't walk around town and brag that their boyfriend is a superhero who's saved the universe countless times?). _

_Ben is unlucky with love (with women) and I figured after Kevin's comment about Ben being 'girly' in the Ultimate Alien Episode "Duped", it was only a matter of time until Ben gives up women and turns to men for love and affection!_

_Reviews would be loved! ;D_


	3. Chapter 3: Swept Away

_I'm so flattered by the number of readers who have placed this story as part of their Favourite Stories List and/or Story Alerts! I'm on cloud 9 right now :D._

_Here it is...Chapter 3 – and Ben's 'Mr. Right' is finally revealed!_

* * *

**Chapter 3: Swept Away**

Ben huffed at his cousin and best friend as the green Camaro stopped in front of the Burger Shack. How he got here, still has the brunette kinda pissed at the redhead and the raven.

_**Flashback – 10 minutes ago in Ben's room**_

"_Ben, you ain't gay." Kevin said at the smaller teen._

"_You're just hurt after the breakup." Gwen said calmly. "This is just a self-defence mechanism to temporarily relieve the heartbreak."_

"_Whatever," Ben eyed the two in front of him. "I've had enough with girls using me. I'd rather take my chances with a guy who'd be upfront with his intentions."_

_Gwen released a frustrated sigh. "That does it." Her hands generated balls of mana; she redirected one hand towards Ben and encased him in a bubble, levitating him off his bed. She started to walk towards the door, Ben floating behind her and Kevin walking behind them. "This gay thing you're talking about is just because of the lack of nutrition since you've been avoiding eating for the last few days. Thankfully, you continued to shower on a daily basis...most girls that I know after experiencing a breakup, refuse to continue with personal hygiene." As Gwen levitated Ben pass the living room, Carl and Sandra sat in the living room, watching the teens with perplexed expressions. "Hi, Aunt Sandra." Gwen greeted her aunt, who obviously just returned home while she and Kevin were in Ben's room. "We'll be going out to get something to eat."_

_Sandra smiled at her niece and her son's ruffian friend, thankful that they were able to get her son out of his room. "Just be back before curfew."_

"_Mom!" Ben yelled. "I'm being dragged against my will!"_

"_Don't really care." Carl said, figuring out the visiting teens' plans to get his son to move on with his life. "If it gets you out of the house and make you realise that this breakup is not the end of the world and gets you eating again, I'm all for Gwen's plans." Carl smiled at Gwen and Kevin. "Like your Aunt Sandra said, Gwen, just be back before curfew!"_

"_See you later!" Gwen called back to her aunt and uncle as they left the house, Kevin opening the door of his car to let Gwen force Ben into the back seat. The mana bubble transformed into shackles, the brunet struggling against his binds as the redhead and the raven took their seats in the front of the car._

"_So, where to?" The osmosian asked as he started the car's engine._

_The young anodyte looked at the xenomorph behind her. 'He looks so thin...' she thought, worried about her cousin's health. 'If he continued to stop eating for any longer, he might develop an eating disorder.' Gwen turned to Kevin and told him two words. "Burger Shack."_

_**End Flashback**_

As the car pulled into the Burger Shack parking lot, Kevin and Gwen got out of the car, Kevin reaching into the back to grab Ben and hoisted the smaller teen over his shoulder. Ben continued to struggle against the mana shackles and the older teen's strength.

"Kevin! Gwen! Let me go now!"

The redhead and the raven ignored the frustrated brunet; they entered the greasy restaurant and settled Ben into a booth, Gwen sitting beside him and Kevin sitting across from the Tennyson cousins, effectively acting like human shields to prohibit the younger's escape.

"Oh, look!" Gwen acted casual, looking at the surroundings. "It's karaoke night!"

The brunet glared at the redhead after seeing the stage and some girl singing off-key. "I am _so_ gonna get you back for this..."

"Did you know that tonight was karaoke night?" Kevin glared at Gwen. "'Cause I'm tellin' you now, I can't sing for shit, so don't even bother tryin'."

"Well, well, well...if it ain't the fudge-packer and his freak friends." Came a cold voice. Cash approached the heroes' table, a cruel sneer forming his features.

"Get lost, Cash." Ben narrowed his green eyes at the brown-eyed bully.

"Nah...I don't think so," Cash leaned over the table, glaring at Ben. "So I hear that Japanese chick dumped your queer hide!" He began to laugh; Kevin was about to hit Cash, but the overshadowing figures behind Cash made Kevin sit still. _'This fucker will get his.'_ The osmosian thought. "So, what was the problem, fruit?" Cash continued. "She got fed up of you not even going for first base, or she knew that you were a cornholing ho?"

Before the hero trio could say anything, the looming figures of three football players from Ben's school began to punch and kick Cash severely; when the beatings desisted, the athletes dragged Cash to the exit of Burger Shack and threw him out of the popular teen hangout. They returned to Ben's table, one asking, "Are you alright, Ben?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Ben smiled sweetly at the athletes.

"If that shit head bothers you again, let us know and we'll deal with him." Another spoke up. They walked back to their table.

"Thank you!" Ben called out at their retreating forms.

Gwen gawked at her cousin. "It's just been broadcast that you're gay and already you have football players hitting on you..."

"Dude, seriously, you ain't into dudes." Kevin argued. He figured Ben was still hurt over his breakup with Julie and was acting out. Speaking of Julie...

"Ben, can we talk?" Julie walked over to their table, looking pathetic. "I'm sorry for what I did... if I could take it back, I would..."

Gwen quickly got up from her seat, ready to become violent with her cousin's ex. "What did I tell you what I would do if you ever got near Ben again?" Green eyes narrowed and began to glow pink.

"This is between me and Ben, Gwen..." Julie glared back. "Stay out of this!"

As the girls argued, Ben slipped pass them, walking towards the stage set up in the restaurant and began to fiddle with the karaoke machine. Kevin got curious as to what he brunet might have up his sleeve; he began to tap on Gwen arm. "What?" The redhead glared at the raven-haired male. As Kevin motioned a finger towards the stage, she saw Ben grab hold of the microphone and began to sing:

_Did I hear you say that  
You want another chance  
You need another try  
You're ready to reclaim your prize  
So you want my love back  
Why'd you let it slip away  
Why'd you ever let me go  
Your change of heart has come too late  
Well the door is locked you can't get in  
The game has changed you've been _

Kevin recognised the song; his mother used to play it quite often when she was in a foul mood, especially when she tried dating after his father died. Too Gone, Too Long by En Vogue. He turned his attention to Gwen, "I didn't know that Ben could sing like that..."

"Neither did I..." Gwen whispered, shocked at hearing Ben's falsetto voice resonate within Burger Shack, the words of the song moving everyone.

_Too gone, too long baby  
To ever get back again  
In my heart  
Too gone, too long baby  
You're too many tears too late  
To ever get back to get back  
In my arms  
Been gone too gone too long_

_Didn't you hear me say that_  
_You'd be a fool to leave_  
_You'd regret the road you chose_  
_You'd come running right back to me_  
_You had such a good love sugar_  
_You never found in no one else_  
_But what I knew all the time_  
_You had to find out for yourself_  
_But now you'll never know_  
_That love again_  
_You're on your own you've been_

_Too gone, too long baby  
To ever get back again  
In my heart  
Too gone, too long baby  
You're too many tears too late  
To ever get back to get back  
In my arms  
Been gone too gone too long_

The pain that Ben obviously felt since the breakup was strongly felt by those hearing his heartbreak. Some patrons began to stare daggers at Julie for causing the brunet's pain.

_Did you really think I'd take you back  
Let you back in my life  
Oh baby just like that  
Someone new is loving me  
Loving you is what used to be  
Baby you're too late to win my heart again_

As Ben reached the high note, everyone began to applaud. Who knew that Ben had such vocal range?

_Too gone, too long baby  
To ever get back again  
In my heart  
Too gone, too long baby  
You're too many tears too late  
To ever get back to get back  
In my arms  
Been gone too gone too long_

When Ben finished singing, everyone gave him a standing ovation; everyone except one. Julie felt humiliated and promptly left. As Ben walked back to his seat, Kevin and Gwen just stared at him. "Bro," Kevin started. "Since when could you sing like that?"

"I don't know, always did." Ben shrugged his shoulders. "I just never sang in public because I figured I would get teased for it."

As Gwen was about to say something encouraging, two dark-haired teens approached them, one raven-haired and the other a brunet. "Jeez, Ben." The brunet spoke. "Sorry to hear about that nasty breakup you had."

"Yeah," the raven-haired added. He leaned over the table, smirking suggestively at Ben. "So, if you're free tomorrow night, how about we catch a movie?"

The brunet glared at the raven. "Wait a minute...we're supposed to be dating!"

"Yeah, about that..." The raven grabbed the brunet's arm and began to walk away from the heroes' table. "There's somethin' I've been meaning to talk to you about..."

"Oh my God..." Gwen gasped. "That guy's planning on dumping his boyfriend just to ask you out."

"More like try to get in your pants..." Kevin muttered. Seriously, Ben just sang about his nasty breakup, and that guy expected Ben to go out with him before officially breaking up with his boyfriend? How crass is that?

Ben started blushing over the attention he was getting from the other guys at Burger Shack. He moved his left hand to cover his face, embarrassed by watching somebody getting dumped for him. Suddenly, the distress signal from the ultimatrix got the trio's attention. "Something's wrong." Ben turned his head to his companions; they got up from their seats and moved towards the exit. As Ben opened the door, he tripped and started to fall down the steps but something – or someone – braced his fall. Looking up, Ben saw the most piercing hazel eyes he's ever seen. "I'm sorry," Ben whispered. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's alright," the deep smooth voice replied. "It's not every day that I get to help a beauty like you."

Ben blushed at the compliment. Looking at the person who helped him, he saw that his 'rescuer' was muscular, tall, and had black hair – realising that this was the same guy that Kevin pointed out to him a few days ago at Mr. Smoothy and Gwen was flirting with but with disastrous results. "I'm Ben." He said, offering his hand to shake.

"Jason." The handsome boy introduced himself, holding onto Ben's hand. Ben blushed even deeper, ignoring the beep of the ultimatrix.

Kevin grabbed Ben by his arm and started to drag him towards the Camaro. "C'mon, Tennyson...we're needed elsewhere."

"Oh, right!" Ben turned his head back, waving to Jason. "Sorry, Jason...but I have to go."

"We'll meet some other time." Jason waved back at Ben, watching the green car speed away.

As the car sped down the busy streets, Gwen turned to her cousin. "What the hell was that?" Ben couldn't answer; he was still dazed over meeting Jason.

"Like I told you the other day, Gwen," Kevin replied. "That guy you were shamelessly throwing yourself at has a thing for Ben! So before you go through a tirade 'bout Ben stole him," the raven glared at the redhead, "that guy obviously is only into dudes so you wouldn't stand a chance anyway!"

Ben was getting a headache hearing the arguing. He interjected the yelling by shouting, "Kevin, stop the car!"

"What?" Kevin slammed the breaks.

"We're here." Ben huffed at his teammates.

The trio got out of the car, realising that they were lead to an abandoned warehouse. Kevin decided to absorb the metal properties of his car, just in case there was nothing to absorb inside the building. Everything about the place mimicked a horror movie.

"Well, look who we have here?" an eerie voice echoed within the warehouse. It was low, creepy, and very familiar...

"Zombozo?" Ben called out. The sinister clown moved away from the shadows where he was hiding. "What do you want?"

"What else?" Zombozo cackled. "Revenge!"

Zombozo pulled out a water seltzer bottle. "Really? Water seltzer?" Kevin rolled his eyes. "Can't you do somethin' more interesting, you pathetic clown?" Liquid started gushing out from the bottle, almost hitting the young heroes; as the liquid hit the floor by their feet, the ground began to disintegrate. "Acid..."

"You just had to provoke the evil clown..." Gwen said in an annoyed tone.

"There's more where that came from kiddies!" Zombozo cackled. "How about somethin' sweet?" He pulled out of the pockets of his pants a few pies.

Kevin gave him a quizzical look. "Those were in your pants for how long?"

Ben glanced at his friend briefly then shifted his eyes to the evil clown. "Not really the point right now, Kevin."

"Sociopath in clown makeup trying to kill us." Gwen hissed at the boys.

"Have some panclastite pies on me!" The villain laughed as he started throwing the pastries.

"Pan what?" Kevin looked at his teammates, confused.

Ben quickly turned to Gwen. "Gwen, shield, now!"

The young anodyte quickly placed an energy shield around herself and her teammates, blocking the pies that were thrown at them. They exploded upon impact against the shield; the severity of the explosion made the redhead lose her concentration, forcing her shield to shatter. "What kind of sicko puts explosive chemicals in a harmless pie?" Ben gave his cousin a deadpanned expression. "Right, psychopathic clown."

"One thing's for sure...he won't have any pies once we get him!" Ben declared, setting the ultimatrix to Big Chill. "It's hero time!" As Ben hit the alien device, all he heard was, _"This function is not available."_ Ben was pissed. "Aw, man! Not now!"

Zombozo laughed maniacally. "At last! Revenge is mine!" He pulled something out of his pocket; from where Ben was standing they looked like marbles. As the psychopathic clown began throwing them in the direction of the young heroes, Ben pushed Gwen in Kevin's direction.

"Gwen! Kevin! Look out!" As a marble hit the ground, it exploded on impact, throwing Ben across the room.

"BEN!" Gwen screamed, worried about the small brunet. It looked like he stopped moving.

"Gwen," the raven-haired teen started to shake the redhead to get her attention, "you need to teleport us out of here now!"

"I can't..." Gwen said, "Teleporting is too taxing..."

"Right now the options are an exhausted you," Kevin turned his head in Ben's direction. "Or a dead cousin! Just teleport, NOW!"

As Gwen sighed, ready to cast a teleportation spell, the warehouse began to fill with fog. "Say goodbye to the little hero, kiddies!" Zombozo laughed, as he threw more explosive marbles in Ben's direction, hearing them detonate. As the fog cleared, Zombozo saw Ben alive, his weakened form supported by a strong black-haired teen in dark pants, a white shirt and black blazer. "What the fuck?" The sinister clown yelled. "Who's this kid?"

Ben, slightly dazed, looked up to the person who saved him. "Jason? What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you." Jason calmly replied, looking down at the injured brunet. "Good thing I decided to follow you...otherwise you'd be a goner now." He turned his attention to the cruel and creepy clown. "Hey, clown!" Jason clenched his fist, generating a reddish-orange mass of energy that sparked electricity. "You like explosions? Well enjoy this!" A powerful blast hit Zombozo, forcing the villain to be blasted out of the building.

"You have powers..." Ben whispered, dazed while looking at his rescuer. "And you saved my life."

"When you have power, it should be used to help people." Jason simply answered, as Gwen and Kevin approached him and Ben.

"How can I ever thank you?" Ben asked.

Jason gave him a flirtatious smirk. "You could go out with me..."

* * *

_I think I'll end things here. Yay! Ben has finally met his man! Next chapter will include Ben and Jason's first date. Sorry if the fight scene sucked; I'm still trying to work on writing that better. But I guess in the end, as long as Ben has his big strong hero (boyfriend) it's all good!_

_Today is December 22__nd__...Happy Holidays!_


	4. Chapter 4: First Date

_Disclaimer: *Sigh* I do not own Ben 10 or any of its affiliating characters. Life can be so cruel! At least its free reign for original character developments – like Ben's new boyfriend! *Happy squeal!* _

* * *

**Chapter 4: First Date**

Ben didn't know how to respond. Here, in front of him, stood a very handsome young man with strange alien powers who saved him from a terrible fate by the hands of an evil clown, asking _him_ out on a date...all Ben could do was blush as his rescuer continued to smirk suggestively at him.

"He can't." Gwen frowned as she grabbed Ben's arm and started to drag him out of the warehouse.

"Gwen!" Ben hissed at his cousin; judging by her attitude, she's obviously still jealous that Jason chose him over her. "Don't be rude." He wrenched his arm out of her grasp and walked back to Jason. "I'd love to go out with you." He smiled at his rescuer.

"How about tomorrow?" Jason asked, a confident smile enhancing his features.

"Tomorrow would be great!" Ben blushed, as he realised how _too_ eager his response came out.

Jason pulled out an iPhone from his jacket pocket and got Ben's number and address. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay." Ben gushed as Jason teleported out of the warehouse in a dust of fog. Ben suddenly felt a tug on his arm and turn around to realise that it was Kevin.

"C'mon, princess..." he grunted. "Time to get you home."

* * *

As Kevin finally pulled into the driveway at Ben's place, Ben quickly left the car and proceeded towards the door. What Ben was not expecting, especially after the tedious ride home of Gwen complaining (again) that Ben stole Jason from her and Kevin lecturing him for being too trusting of this guy and if he didn't learn his lesson after first meeting Darkstar and the arachnachimp, was them following him inside his home to complain/lecture him more.

Ben released a frustrated sigh as he entered the living room, his _so-called_ friends still bitching at him. He realised that his parents and grandfather were sitting with a brunette woman, close to his mother's age, talking and laughing. Ben turned to Kevin and Gwen, giving them a pointed stare meaning to shut up, to avoid embarrassing his family in front of their guest. Oddly enough, there was something very familiar about this woman...

"Ben, glad you can join us." Carl greeted his son. "Now you can finally remove your art supplies out of the living room..."

"Dad, it's only a sketch pad and a charcoal kit. You make it sound like I have a full studio in here." He turned towards the brunette guest and greeted her. "Hi, Grandma."

"Grandma!" Gwen was shocked that Ben would mistake this woman for their alien grandmother.

"My goodness, Ben..." the guest said, pleasantly surprised of being identified and quickly changed into a purple humanoid energy form. "I'm surprised you can recognise me in my disguise!"

"As if this was the first time..." Kevin muttered.

"Mind expanding on that comment?" Verdona glared at Kevin.

"When you first came to visit, Ben was the one to realise that you're our grandmother." Gwen explained. Max was surprised to hear this for the first time; he didn't know that his grandchildren met their grandmother...

"There's also the time when Ben realised that that DNAlien was using an I.D. mask when he wasn't even aware that he wasn't human..." Kevin added.

Gwen turned her head to face Kevin. "There's also when he knew that Michael Morningstar would double-cross us when we tried to turn you back to normal..."

Verdona, as well as Carl, Sandra, and Max were confused. Verdona gave Ben a quizzical look, asking, "Benjamin, is there anything else I should know?"

"He has some freaky intuition about certain things like when we were on that weird maze planet..." Kevin blurted.

"Perplexahedron." Gwen corrected Kevin. "There was also his photographic memory for the runes to get to Wah Di Tah..."

"You mean Yawa Tobsic..." Kevin corrected Gwen. She gave him a glare for correcting her.

Verdona held Ben's hands and sat him down on the sofa next to her. "Benjamin, what you thought to be intuition is actually your anodyte abilities manifesting!"

"What?" Everyone in the room shouted.

"I knew there was something I was picking up one from the last time we met..." Verdona placed a hand on Ben's cheek. "Gwendolyn may have inherited _the spark_, but you my dear," she smiled at her grandson. "You've inherited _the sight_." The anodyte was ecstatic. "To think...my grandchildren...one who can use mana and the other with psychic capabilities! You two are making feel so proud!" Verdona squealed happily.

"Great..." Gwen huffed, obviously pissed at this new development. She gave Ben a menacing glare. "First you steal the guy I like, and now the one thing that made me special you had to steal that too?"

"Wait a minute..." Max glanced between his grandson and granddaughter. "All that arguing from outside was about a boy?"

Verdona had a pensive look in her eyes. '_Great,_' Ben thought. '_Even though I'm developing anodyte powers, with Gwen having "the spark", grandma will most likely choose her side and use "Grandma Guilt" to make me cancel my date with Jason!_' This thought had put Ben in a foul mood.

"Tell me about this boy..." Sandra asked. As a mother, she needed to know what type of boy could get between two cousins.

"First of all," Kevin interjected. "I don't know what Gwen's talkin' about Ben stealing this guy, when the dude was obviously not interested in her after her failed flirting attempts," Max quirked an eyebrow at this, "and he just asked Ben out for tomorrow night..." Gwen glared at Kevin for revealing such details to her family. "What are you glarin' at? It's true! How can it be considered _stealing_ when the dude is obviously into other dudes instead of chicks?"

Ben picked up his sketchbook and a piece of charcoal and started to draw Jason to his family. Everyone gathered around him, amazed by the speed and detailing in the drawing. '_Remarkable!'_ Verdona thought. '_Very few anodytes have the ability to perform automatic writing, yet Ben is able to do automatic sketching!_' Once the sketch was done, everyone was speechless.

"This is him?" Sandra gawked. She had to admit, this young man was quite handsome.

"Yeah," Ben replied. "He saved me from Zombozo." Sandra shivered, hearing the name of the evil clown who almost killed her.

Carl had a livid expression, looking at his only child. "You mean to tell me that you could have died tonight?"

"But I didn't," Ben replied calmly. He had a dreamy distant look in his eyes. "And it was because Jason appeared when he did and blasted Zombozo away."

"Blasted him away?" Max asked. "Ben, does this boy have powers?"

Ben developed a light blush on his cheeks; Verdona and Sandra thought it was cute the way Ben seemed smitten by this boy. Gwen narrowed her eyes, still jealous. Kevin, Carl and Max seemed sceptical about this mysterious boy. "Yeah," Ben finally answered his grandfather. "When he first showed up to save me, there was this fog that filled the room then he just came in from nowhere." Ben's blush deepened, remembering how safe he felt when Jason held onto him, trying to protect him. "Then he materialised in his hand this powerful reddish-orange mass of energy..."

"Mana?" Verdona interjected.

"Almost..." Ben paused. "But it was mixed with electricity. It didn't feel like mana; it had more of a _cosmic_ vibe to it. And he just blasted Zombozo out of the warehouse."

Verdona picked up the sketchbook, staring at Ben's sketch of the boy who had swept him off his feet. "You said that he basically teleported to where you were in a fog, and has control of _cosmic_ reddish-orange energy with electricity..." She set the book back on the table at looked at her grandson. "Ben," she spoke softly, "I do believe you attracted the fancy of a devragian."

"Are you sure?" Max asked his estranged wife. Kevin and Gwen looked at the elders with confused expressions.

"Positive." Verdona smiled at Ben, clearly happy about this development. "Ben, Devrajians are a race similar to Anodytes, but much more powerful and live on Devraijya. They control power known as _cosna_; it's almost like mana but on a cosmic level." Her smile transformed into a wicked grin. "And for you, young man, to catch the infatuation of a devrajian – even though he may be a hybrid – you lucked out kiddo! Keep your cute little claws on him!"

Kevin started to laugh. Seems as though Gwen's plan to have Verdona guilt Ben into cancelling his date was a flop! The mature anodyte appeared to be quite pleased with her grandson attracting a powerful alien.

"Now, Ben," Verdona's tone became serious. "Since you're developing traits of being an anodyte, we should have _the talk_." Carl groaned, knowing where the conversation was going; he and his brother, Frank, had the embarrassment of having the awkward conversation – _the anodyte birds-and-bees talk_ – when they were younger, just to end up with a repeat performance today with his son. "As you know, anodytes are powerful beings who can use mana; what you don't know is that with anodyte _males_, when they fall in love with another male, no matter which species, and become intimate, especially when it comes to – as you humans put it – being a 'Greek passive' or enjoying some pillow biting," Ben's face began to turn red in embarrassment; Sandra, Gwen and Max were shocked to hear such terms from the alien female; meanwhile Kevin continued to laugh seeing his best friend receiving an awkward alien sex-talk. "You are capable to conceive." This made Kevin stop laughing. Everyone's jaws dropped with this new development, except for Carl, who had this conversation when he was a teenager. By this point, Ben was turning a little green. "Now, Ben when you do become intimate with this boy – and I know you will – I have enough friends back on Anodyne who have fallen in love and married devrajians – there will be plenty of nights of unbelievably hot, tantalising, electric, passionate sex; but being as young as you are, you should know about how to stay safe and avoid getting pregnant..."

"I'm going to go home now..." Kevin uttered, feeling oddly embarrassed about the conversation taking place. Somehow, it didn't seem as funny anymore.

"Can you drive me home?" Gwen squeaked, her jealousy fading quickly; she began to feel _horrible_ for Ben to go through such an awkward conversation with_ their grandmother!_ Especially now knowing that Ben could possibly get _pregnant_...

Kevin and Gwen left the house quickly, mortified of what they just witnessed, not realising that Max left right after them; Carl and Sandra left the living room, leaving poor Ben alone with Verdona; the mature anodyte continuing to discuss safe sex, orgasms, and pregnancy with her mortified young grandson.

* * *

Jason had texted at around 10:00 in the morning that he would pick Ben up at 7:00PM.

Ben spent most of the day visiting various shops to find the ideal outfit for his date; not only that, but it was the perfect excuse to avoid his grandmother after receiving _the talk_ the night before as well as dodging the relentless questions about Jason from her his mother. After visiting what felt like twenty stores, he couldn't find anything suitable, so he settled for looking for something in his closet at home. Maybe he could raid his father's closet and find something to borrow that didn't look lame...

Each time Ben pulled out an outfit, he would look at his reflection in the full-length mirror in his room, just to reject the outfit and try something else. As Ben reached his tenth ensemble, Gwen and Kevin walked into his room.

"Jeez! Don't either of you know how to knock!"

"You're dressed," Kevin found the only available seat in the room, the computer chair. "Plus it ain't like there's nothin' I've never seen before..."

"What are you doing here?" Ben narrowed his eyes at Gwen. "As you can see, I'm busy." He turned his attention to the suit he just pulled out of his closet, wrinkled his nose and threw it with the rest of rejected clothing on his bed.

Gwen sighed. "I wanted to apologise for how I was behaving about you and Jason." After leaving Ben's place after the awkward sex-talk with their grandmother, Gwen realised how boorish her attitude was, especially since Ben was finally trying to move on with his life after his breakup with the bitch. Gwen would have to move on and find someone else for her fairy tale ending; this might be _the one_ for Ben. "I shouldn't be mad at you because a guy likes you instead of me; it's a choice that I need to respect and you're family. We shouldn't let some random guy get between us." She gave him a sympathetic look.

Ben smirked. "You do realise that I was the one who taught you the _puppy look_ and that look you're giving me won't work..."

"So, I'm forgiven?" The redhead quirked her head sideways.

"Yeah," the brunet hugged the redhead. "Well, since you're both here..." Ben refocused his attention to the piles of clothes on his bed and floor. "You can help me find something for my date."

Kevin rolled his eyes, but found himself helping anyway. "How about this?" He lifted from a pile a burgundy jacket with black pants and a white shirt.

"The pants made my ass look huge." Ben scrunched his nose.

"This looks nice." Gwen pulled out a navy jacket.

"Jacket sleeves are short."

"My, my...someone seems nervous." A voice frightened the teens.

"Grandma!" Ben shrieked. "Don't scare us like that!"

Verdona looked at the clothes scattered in the room. "I thought you went shopping this morning."

"I couldn't find anything that I liked." Ben answered, weary of his grandmother. He looked at the clock in his room. "Shit! And Jason is supposed to pick me up in thirty minutes!"

"Is that all?" Verdona smiled at her anxious grandson. "Grandma can fix that!" With a snap of her fingers, Ben's t-shirt and jeans transformed into a beige dress-shirt and black leather pants.

Ben turned to his mirror to see the outfit. "Grandma..." Ben whispered. "It's perfect."

The anodyte hugged the young male teen. "Consider it a gift for missing so many birthdays and other special occasions." She smiled, feeling the love and appreciation that the brunet had for her.

Suddenly the doorbell rang; Ben ran into the living room as his father opened the door.

Carl had a disapproving glare for the young man who was dressed in black pants, a white dress shirt and a black blazer on the other side of the door. "Yes?"

"Hello, sir. I'm Jason Henning." Jason introduced himself. "I'm here for Ben."

Sandra pushed her husband away, and escorted Jason into the living room. "Hello, Jason. I'm Sandra, Ben's mother. And that lummox by the door is my husband, Carl." Sandra glared at her husband, her message clearly stating '_Don't fuck this up for Ben!_'

"Jason, you made it!" Ben greeted his date. "Well, you've met my parents and you've already met my cousin, Gwen and our friend, Kevin." Gwen and Kevin entered the living room, followed by Verdona donning an elderly female disguise. "And this is my grandmother, Verdona."

Jason took Verdona's hand, gently kissing it. "It's an honour to be in the presence of a powerful anodyte such as yourself, Mrs. Tennyson." Verdona was surprised that a young alien hybrid could detect her alien lineage so quickly.

Sandra and Verdona were charmed by Jason's manners, while Carl and Kevin rolled their eyes, thinking how fake he was. Gwen decided to speak up. "So, Jason, where are you taking Ben?"

"It's a surprise." He smiled flirtatiously at Ben. "Actually, we have dinner reservations and should leave now." He draped an arm around Ben's waist.

"Be home at 10." Carl ordered. Sandra kicked her husband on his shin.

Ben and Jason said their goodbyes and Jason conjured a mist of fog to teleport them away.

Verdona slapped Carl's shoulder, making him wince. "Would it kill you to be nice to your son's suitor?"

"Yes, it would." The women groaned at this response and left for the kitchen. Carl turned his attention to Kevin. "That boy ain't right. How much would it cost for you to sabotage their next date?"

"I can do better than that..." the raven-haired teen replied. "I can help you locate high-tech chastity belts..."

* * *

As Ben felt the fog clear, he realised that his surroundings were definitely not Bellwood. There was a cool wind blowing and there was...'_Wait, is this snow? And how did this fur coat get on me?_'

"Surprise!" Jason smiled at a stunned Ben. Ben realised that Jason was wearing a thick wool jacket over his clothes. Jason escorted his date down a street and stopped in front of a restaurant.

"La Queue de Cheval Steakhouse and Bar?" Ben was puzzled. "Jason...where are we?"

"Montreal." Came the simple response.

"Montreal?"

"Yeah." Jason gave Ben a nudge, bringing him into the classy restaurant. "I used to live here for a few years; actually went to a private high school." A hostess took their coats and escorted them to a private table. Jason pulled out a chair for Ben to sit. Blushing lightly, Ben took the seat and allowed Jason to push the chair closer to the table. Jason took his seat across from Ben.

"So, you lived in Montreal for awhile..." This intrigued Ben. "So where else did you live?"

Before Jason could answer, a waiter came with menus. Before Ben had the opportunity to glance at the offered menu, Jason had already scanned it and proceeded to order. "We'll share a platter of the tempura lobster tails & claws on a stick for the appetizer; he will have the steak cut tomato salad and I will have the arugula & parmesan shaves; as the main course he will have Tuna Steak and I'll have the Petit Mignon with beurre maitre d'hôtel and the roasted garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert we'll share le moelleux." Jason slipped out a folded bill and passed it to the waiter. "And this should cover the cost for a bottle of your best wine."

Ben was in shocked hearing the order. Finally glancing at the menu, he realised that his date basically ordered some of the more expensive items available.

"Sorry." Jason grinned sheepishly. "Was I too forward by ordering dinner for you?"

"No..." Ben was still shocked. "I'm just surprised that you went through the menu so quickly, let alone you ordered wine!" Ben had a hesitant expression. "But the waiter never asked for i.d. when you ordered the wine."

"Well, it is legal to drink at 18-years-old here." Jason took Ben's hand; then it occurred to him what Ben was worried about. "Don't worry, Ben. If you're not comfortable with drinking alcohol, I can always order whatever you prefer." Jason's smile relaxed Ben, easing the teenager's mind about the night ahead.

As the dinner progressed, Ben and Jason learned more about each other. Jason learned about Ben's exploits as a young hero from the age of ten and being drafted into The Plumbers, his peace talks with an alien species – The Highbreed – that prevented the destruction of the universe, his strange family lineage and the teen's love for smoothies that was requested to the restaurant staff.

Meanwhile, Ben learned more about Jason; how his mother was a devrajian scientist who was exploring earth and met his father, an astrophysicist. He was born in the U.S. but because of his parents' work, he moved around quite a lot, living in Montreal and Europe for a few years, until his mother told him that he should learn more about his alien heritage, which resulted in him staying with family on Devraijya, as well as training on other planets such as Anodyne and the Anur System. As it turns out, Jason returned to Earth to enrol in a few science classes in a community college in Bellwood.

As they finished dinner, Ben pulled out his wallet, ready to help pay for the meal, but Jason told him to place his money back. "What kind of man lets his date help pay for dinner?" With dinner paid for, they retrieved their coats and started walking down the busy streets, talking and joking.

As the walk progressed, Ben realised that the road changed from concrete pavement to cobblestone. "Where are we?" Ben asked.

"This is Old Montreal; it's a part of the city that maintains some of the architecture from the late-19th century."

"It's nice." Ben looked around, seeing the old buildings that surrounded them. "And we're here because..."

"That's a surprise." Jason smirked, leading his date to the next phase of the evening.

* * *

"Where the hell is he?" Carl was anxiously pacing in the living room. It was 9:58 and there was still no sign of Ben.

"Lighten up, Carl." Verdona chided her youngest son. "Ben and that lovely college boy probably lost track of time."

"College boy?" Max shouted. An hour after Ben left for his date and Kevin was about to drive Gwen home, Max passed by just to find out that his youngest grandchild had gone out on his date. "What the hell? Ben is only 16!"

"And that boy is probably only 18-years-old." Sandra reasoned. "Ben isn't the first, nor will he be the last, person to date someone who's a little older." She glanced at Max and Verdona. "I mean, look at you two. There's obviously _some_ age difference. Why restrict Ben if this boy can make him happy?"

The men rolled their eyes, annoyed with the logic that Sandra spoke. Verdona smiled at her daughter-in-law. '_I knew there's a reason why Sandra's my favourite daughter-in-law!_'

Carl began to look out the window. It was now 10:02 and still no sign of Ben. All he could see outside was fog. '_Wait a minute, fog? Isn't that boy able to teleport through fog?_' Carl opened the door to see Ben and Jason standing _very_ close to each other, almost ready to kiss. "_Ahem!"_ Carl cleared his throat. Ben pulled away from Jason, looking very guilty. "It's five minutes after ten." Carl narrowed his eyes at Jason. He grabbed Ben's arm and dragged him inside the house.

"Sorry, we're a little late, Mr. Tennyson." Jason apologised while he gazed flirtatiously at Ben. "We lost track of time."

Ben pulled away from his father long enough to quickly hug Jason. "Thanks for tonight. I had a lot of fun."

"I'll call you tomorrow."

"Goodnight." Ben was able to say before his father slammed the door in Jason's face.

"Carl! That was rude!" Sandra scolded. "You could have at least given Ben the chance to say a proper _goodnight_ to his date!"

"Speaking of date..." Verdona interjected, grabbing Ben and sitting him between her and Sandra. "How was it?"

"It was amazing!" Ben gushed. He felt girly to be blushing the way he was but he didn't care; even his father slamming the door on his date couldn't dampen his good mood. "First he teleported us to Montreal and gave me this fur coat to stay warm..."

"As in _Montreal_ in **Canada**!" Max questioned. "He took you to another country for your first date?" Verdona shushed her estranged husband, wanting to hear the details of Ben's first date and admired the coat that Ben was still donning.

"He took me to this expensive steakhouse, and I swear it's like a 5-star restaurant...anyway, he ordered dinner for me..."

"He ordered for you?" Sandra awed at this. Verdona shrieked in delight.

"Yeah, and the food was amazing! During dinner, we talked and it turns out that his mother is a devrajian while his father is human; he went to school in Montreal and travelled to other countries and he learned about his powers on Devraijya and also trained on Anodyne and other planets."

"So that explains how he was able to tell that I was an anodyte..." Verdona mused. '_This young man is filled with surprises_.'

"So, after dinner we went for a walk until we reached the old city..." Sandra and Verdona awed at the fact that Ben had a romantic walk with his new beau. "Then he surprised me with a calèche..."

"A calèche?" Carl asked. "What the hell is a calèche?"

"It's a horse-pulled carriage ride." Ben answered. "It turns out that in order to ride a calèche, the driver needs at least three to four people as passengers, so we had a ride with a couple who were celebrating their fiftieth anniversary." Sandra and Verdona squealed even more, they were enthralled with the romantic evening Ben had. Max and Carl groaned. "After that, we came here where Dad _interrupted_ us..." Sandra glared at her husband, somewhat pissed that he ended Ben's first date.

"Well, it sounds like you had an eventful evening." Verdona smiled at the brunet. "Tomorrow would be my last night on Earth; maybe you can invite Jason to join us."

"Really?" Ben's eyes widened, looking forward to spending more time with Jason. "I'll call him right now!" Ben wished his family a good night and ran to his room to make the call.

At this time, Sandra and Verdona continued to squeal over the details of Ben's date, while lecturing the men in the room that they had to behave themselves the following day and not ruin Ben's blooming romance.

* * *

_Author's notes: Well, I finally finished this chapter – and Ben finally had his first date with Jason! *happy squeal!*_

_I was compelled to give props to my hometown in this chapter – yes, I'm a guilty Montrealer – and in case you're wondering, the locations listed do exist here. I just never been to __La Queue de Cheval Steakhouse and Bar – I would have to be working as a lawyer and/or a doctor to be able to afford it! Good thing Jason's parents are scientists; so yeah, he's a rich kid! I know some readers will say that Ben was out of character – well, he __**did**__ just had a romantic night with a hunky college guy, so it would be expected that he wouldn't be himself..._

_Reviews would be much appreciated! They fuel my muses. XD_


	5. Chapter 5: Blossoming Love

_Finally! A new chapter..._

_A great 'thank you' to those who have written reviews {reviews make for happy writers ;) }, or have placed this story as a part of their favourite list!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own any part of the Ben 10 franchise – I'm dirt poor!_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Blossoming Love**

Kevin didn't know what sickened him more...the way Ben was so _enthralled_ with Jason or the way that the Tennyson women were so _taken_ with the fake charm that this strange guy was exuding. The date was just yesterday...how could Ben be wrapped around this jerk's finger so quickly?

It would seem that he wasn't the only one suspicious of Jason's intensions.

"That's him?" Frank asked Carl, pointing at Jason.

"Yeah," Carl answered his older brother. "That's the boy I wanna kill for ogling my boy."

Ken looked at his cousin's _friend_. "Well, Ben is 16-years-old..." he defended. "So what if he's dating an 18-year-old college student...in some countries, Ben would already be married and own a herd of goat."

"What college student gets a fur coat and goes to a 5-star restaurant on a first date?" Max glared at his eldest grandchild.

Gwen had walked pass the Tennyson men at that moment, as Ken spat out his soda on his sister just as she spat out her soda on the grass in the backyard. Although she was grossed out by the 'backwash shower' she just received, her mind was focused on what she heard. "BEN!" She called out, getting the brunet's attention. "He bought you a fur coat on your first date!" This led Ben and Jason to tell Gwen and her mother, Lily (as well as a second-telling to Sandra and Verdona) about the date in Montreal. Lily and Gwen fawned over how romantic the evening was. Gwen had to admit that she was jealous that Ben had such an amazing first date, but she couldn't hold a grudge against the younger boy; Ben needed that night more than anyone.

Frank rolled his eyes, hearing the details of the previous night. "Is this brat for real?" He whispered to the other men. Just as the words left his mouth, Lily turned to him and gave him a menacing glare.

"Wow," Kevin muttered, "I actually felt the hatred in that glare."

"Now you know where my sister got it from." Ken said. "Man! He's making the rest of us look like chum!"

As the women continued to fawn over how cute Ben and Jason were together and the men grunted their disapproval, Max received a distress call from his Plumbers badge. "Okay kids," he called out to Ben and Gwen and tapped Kevin's shoulder. "We're being called to duty."

Ben gave his grandmother an apologetic look. "Don't worry, kiddo." The anodyte smiled at her grandchildren. "I'll still be here until you come back." The cousins hugged their grandmother, then followed their grandfather.

"If you don't mind, I'll come with you." Jason followed behind Ben.

"You don't need to do that." Ben smiled. "Continue to enjoy yourself here. We shouldn't be gone for too long."

Jason smiled back. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't come along to protect you?" Verdona awed at the sentiment and giggled when Ben blushed at Jason's words. Ken started to make gagging noises, earning the 'mom look' from his mother.

Just as Kevin was about to join his teammates, Carl grabbed his arm and said in a low voice, "Keep an eye on Ben...I don't trust that guy's intensions with him."

Kevin only nodded. To be honest, he didn't trust Jason with Ben either.

* * *

That was two weeks ago, and Kevin was still weary of Jason with Ben.

Currently the team was out on a mission that Jason, _yet again_, invited himself to join. The way Jason acted as though Ben was a helpless damsel made Kevin sick, while Gwen thought it was endearing. In Gwen's opinion, Jason was perfect for Ben. Ben constantly had to watch his teammates back during a mission, sometimes causing him some form of minor injury; with Jason around, the potential dangers to the young brunet have lessened, to the redhead's relief. She'd hate to confront her family one day if something horrible happened to the baby of the family.

The team was investigating a supposedly abandoned military laboratory in Parkville. Examining the grounds, there was evidence that the lab was recently used. As the team entered a large room, Ben knelt forward, finding a discarded vial.

"What did you find Ben?" Gwen asked.

"I'm not sure..." He responded. As a precaution, Ben transformed into Chromastone, in case there was any dangerous chemicals to the mysterious vial. "CL, PS, CG, H, AS?"

"Those sound like agents for lethal chemical warfare technology..."Gwen was puzzled. "Why would something like that still be developed?"

"Maybe you should get away from that stuff, Tennyson." Kevin suggested, worried that the exposure to such chemicals might do to humanity.

"I hate to say this," Jason mumbled. "Kevin's right, Ben. Just being in contact with the vial might be dangerous to you."

"I'll be alright, as long as I'm still Chromastone. " Ben set the vial on a rack that was set on a nearby table, then ushered his teammates out of the room before changing back to normal. He looked up at Jason and smiled sweetly. "I'm flattered that you're so concerned about me, but I can take care of myself."

"That's what you think!" Came a gruff voice.

Kevin let out a frustrated sigh. "Vulkanus..." The group turned around to see Vulkanus, wielding a large high-tech flamethrower and surround by an army of Pickaxe aliens. "How many times do we have to kick your can until you get the hint that you should give up?"

"Not until I finally get to skin your hide, Levin." Vulkanus growled. "I will admit though, for a backwater planet, earth does have some handy warfare equipment that's compatible with most alien tech...Now hand over that vial and nobody gets hurt – too much..."

"How many disgruntled aliens do you know, Ben?" Jason whispered.

Ben sighed. "Too many to count." He transformed into Big Chill, knowing that Vulkanus' armour would be weak against the necrofriggian's ice attacks.

"I was waitin' for a rematch with the ice butterfly." Vulkanus pointed his flamethrower at the young heroes, pulling the trigger to burn them. The blue hand of the necroffrigian moved to the ultimatrix on his chest, transforming the blue alien moth into a red one. After a deep intake of breath, a powerful flash-flame blew out of the ultimate necrofriggian's mouth, encasing Vulkanus and his lackeys in an icy prison.

"Huh," Kevin chuckled as he tapped the block of ice that contained Vulkanus. "My godson could make an ice fort with this stuff."

"Do you a hear that?" Ben asked, returning to his human form.

Gwen quirked an eyebrow at her cousin. "Hear what?"

Jason turned to glare at Vulkanus, then saw something small in his hands that was flashing. "A detonator..." He quickly conjured a fog. "Ben! You and the others get clear of this place, Quickly!"

"What?" Before Ben could argue, he, Gwen and Kevin were already teleported outside, a good distance away from the abandoned military laboratory. As Ben was ready to run towards the building, it exploded. "Jason!" Ben yelled; he tried to sprint towards the flames, but something held him back. "Let me go, Gwen!" He struggled against the mana bubble his cousin had encased him in. "Jason is still in there!" He transformed into Terraspin to blast his confines, but was tackled down by Kevin, who took on the properties of stone. While struggling, Ben became human again, tears running down his cheeks. "Kevin, please, let me go!" Kevin tried hugging the distressed brunet, keeping him from endangering his own life. Max arrived with five Plumber agents, getting a statement from Gwen, as Kevin continued to calm Ben. "Oh my god, Jason." Ben whispered as he cried. Another blast sounded, this time a figure came out of the inferno, followed by a reddish-orange energy mass, sparking electricity.

"Jason!" Ben pushed Kevin away, running towards the emerging form, who was indeed Jason, Vulkanus and the pickaxe aliens in confinement behind him. As Max and the other Plumbers were reading the villains their rights as they were locked away in a Plumber ship, Ben hugged Jason tightly, as though if he let go, the older boy would disappear. "Jason," Ben whispered, "I thought you died in the explosion."

Jason tightened his grip around Ben's waist. "Before I got the chance to do this?" Jason pulled back from the hug slightly, one hand gripping Ben's chin affectionately. Ben had a confused look in his eyes until Jason's face leaned in towards his, eyes closing. What happened next left Kevin flabbergasted and Gwen drooling. Jason pressed his lips against Ben's; Ben's eyes fluttered close, leaning close to the body of the man who gently and passionately kissed him. Although the kiss was brief, it felt _electric_ to Ben, leaving him breathless. "Can't allow myself to die before getting a kiss from an angel like you."

* * *

_**Author's notes:**__ I think I'll end here for now. I have other notes, but I think I'll save them for the next chapter. Gotta leave back __**something**__ to make you come back ;)_

_Ben and Jason finally have their first kiss! What did you think? Reviews and constructive criticisms are always welcome._

_Until next time lovelies!_


	6. Chapter 6:Revelations

_Yay! Another chapter!The angst is up on this one...And I decided to introduce a new character – Kevin's cousin, who I mentioned in the first chapter. And towards the end, there's two special guests..._

_A very special thank you to all who have reviewed, placed this story on their Alert Lists and Favourite List! It's because of you this story keeps going – you rock!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing. I'm crying in my dark corner – okay, done...on with the story!_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Revelations**

It was the cutest thing anyone could have ever seen – Kevin E. Levin playing with a brunet 4-year-old boy.

"Thanks for looking after Ty while I was at work, Kevin." A short brunette smile at the two sitting on the floor.

"Not a problem, Tasya." Kevin got up and picked up the dark-haired boy, passing him to his mother. "Anything to help my favourite cousin."

Tasya laughed, holding her son close. "I'm your _only_ cousin." Her expression became serious. "But seriously, Kevin. Thank you. I don't know what would happen to me, _to Ty_, if I stayed with Brad."

Usually not one for showing his emotions, Kevin hugged Tasya while she held her son. "You're family, Taj…" He whispered her old nickname. "You helped me so many times, from before I ran away from home to when I returned to Bellwood; I wouldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you or my godson." Kevin tightened the hug, hating to think what might have happened to Tasya and Ty if they were still living with that abusive ass. Tasya was good at hiding the bruises from the physical abuse she suffered from her then boyfriend, Brad. But the day when Kevin walked in on the creep ready to hit Ty, Tasya using her body as a shield to protect her son, suffering from inflicted broken ribs that forced her to be hospitalised, Kevin lost it – to the point where he used his powers to beat Brad to the point he was hospitalised himself. It didn't take Kevin long to pick up his godson and his cousin's few possessions and moved them in with him and his mother. It saddened him a little when Tasya found a new job and decided to move out.

"Uncle Kevin – you're crushing me!" Came a whiny voice between Tasya and Kevin, causing them to laugh.

"Sorry, Squirt." Kevin laughed and ruffled Ty's messy hair.

"I ain't no squirt!" Ty pouted.

"Sure you are…" Kevin teased as he escorted Tasya and Ty to the door. Ty was always a good source of amusement. As Kevin opened the door, Gwen was standing on the other side, ready to knock.

Tasya stared at the redhead for a second, realising who she was and decided to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Tasya, Kevin's cousin. You must be Gwen."

"Yeah," Gwen hesitated. _'This must be the cousin Kevin helped to get out of an abusive relationship.'_ Gwen still felt guilty for the things she said to Kevin. She looked at the little boy in the brunette's arms. Gwen couldn't help but smile at him. "And this must be your son…"

"Ty." Kevin answered. He nudged the little boy. "Say hello to my friend Gwen."

Ty just cutely blinked at Gwen, then covered his face in his mother's shoulder. Gwen just laughed at the shyness of the sweet kid. Tasya patted her son's back, giggling at his shy response. "It's getting late. Kev, thanks again – for everything." She walked towards her car, placed Ty in the car seat and started the engine. As she pulled away from the Levin house, she waved at her cousin, who waved back. It wasn't until the car was out of sight that Kevin finally let Gwen inside his home.

He headed towards the kitchen, handing Gwen a soda, then helping himself to one. "So, what's up, Gwen?" He took a swig of the sugary beverage.

Gwen played with the ring to the can, sighed, and then asked, "What's up with you and Ben?"

Kevin sputtered his drink. "What the fuck?" he glared at the redhead. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"The way you've been acting around Ben ever since he started dating Jason..." Green eyes burrowed at the tall teen. "The last time I saw you act like this was when Michael Morningstar was interested in me..."

"Darkstar's a fuckin' douche bag who was only interested in your powers."

"Maybe so, but you had this – _distrust_ – of him from the time we met."

Kevin released a frustrated sigh. "It's call _intuition_, Gwen. Its how I've survived all these years. You and Ben are _too_ trusting and naive."

Gwen felt insulted being called naive, but let it pass...this time. "Come to think of it, when Ben was dating _that bitch_ –" Whenever Gwen thought about how Julie cheated on Ben, it made her blood boil. "You acted like she was a third wheel – not that I blame you now – but..."

"I'm stopping you right now, Gwen." Kevin narrowed his eyes at her. "Simply because a guy is worried about his friends, doesn't mean –"

"That's just it –" Gwen interrupted. "The way you've been worried about Ben. It's like you're more concerned about him than you've ever been about me when we were together..." She sighed sadly, as Kevin guzzled more of his soda. "Kevin, are you in love with Ben?"

Kevin choked on his drink, eyes widened at Gwen. "Huh? Wha- ?" He sputtered.

"Tell me the truth, Kevin." Gwen said, sternly. "Are you in love with my cousin?" Kevin just stared at the ground, not knowing how to respond. This only confirmed Gwen's question. "How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been having these feelings for Ben?"

"I – I don't know..." the raven-haired teen answered truthfully. "I guess it's been always there..."

The redhead narrowed her eyes. "So, the times you said that you liked me...the hugs, the kisses..." she felt her body ready to shake, hurt and angry. "Was I a substitute for who you really wanted? Was I just a convenient replacement?"

"NO!" Kevin yelled, knowing that Gwen was upset. "Gwen, I did like – do like – you...but...it's just..._complicated_..."

"How the hell is this _complicated_?1" Gwen asked. "You like my cousin, but obviously you knew he wouldn't return your feelings, so you settle for me – a girl who just happens _to look like him_..."

"Gwen," Kevin sighed, frustrated. "When I first met Ben in New York that summer, he was the first real friend I made. He was someone who actually wanted to be around me; back then, even _you_ wanted nothing to do with me..." Gwen straightened up after hearing this. She completely forgot about their first meeting and how cold she was to him. "I guess from that first meeting, I developed a crush on Ben, but I screwed that up with my greed for power." He moved towards the living room, sitting on the couch, Gwen following after him and sat on the sofa. "When I betrayed him, and he walked away from me, I was completely fucked up – I was just so..._pissed off_...with him...with myself...I deserved to be locked up in the Null Void. When I ran into the two of you after so many years, and you were nice to me," he looked at Gwen, "I thought it was my chance to start over. Having friends – a girl who liked me and a chance to be friends with someone I let down." He looked down at the ground. "But I guess I still fucked things up..."

Gwen didn't know what to say. She was hurt thinking that she was a substitute for who Kevin really wanted; at the same time she felt bad for Kevin, for the life he lived and for having unrequited feelings for someone he was close to but was unavailable. "Leave him be." She whispered.

"What?" Kevin asked, not hearing Gwen properly.

"I said leave Ben alone." She looked up at Kevin. "Ben is finally happy with someone he loves who loves him back." She knew her words were harsh, but she had to say something. She got up from her seat and headed towards the door. "I know this might hurt, Kevin, but if you really love Ben like you do, you'll let him be happy with Jason."

The redhead left the raven's home, leaving him to his thoughts. '_I know that I should let Ben be happy,_' he thought, '_but there's something not right about Jason. There's no way I could forgive myself if he hurts Ben..._'

* * *

"Gwen, this is becoming a bad habit of yours. Maybe I should stage an intervention."

After Gwen left Kevin's place, she went to Ben's house. Seeing as Ben was busy doing his homework (on a Friday night), Gwen decided to keep herself occupied by rummaging through her cousin's closet. 'Borrowing' Ben clothes then going shopping for something new sometimes cheered her up – and after visiting Kevin, she needed some cheering up. Ben could tell that she was upset about something – about what, he couldn't tell. Knowing Gwen, it probably had to involve Kevin, but he didn't want to pry – he'd let Gwen tell him when she was ready.

"You've stolen so many things that I barely have any clothes left."

Gwen gave her cousin a mischievous grin. "You still have a closet-full of stuff. I can't help it if you have some decent taste in clothes and that we're the same size." She pulled out a blue v-neck cashmere sweater, trying it on and admiring how it fits. "Maybe if you ate more instead of downing so many smoothies like you're on a liquid diet, you wouldn't be so skinny."

The brunet playfully narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "I don't see why you still have to steal my clothes."

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't the male equivalent of a size 4. Seriously, you need to bulk up .Then again," She grinned like the Cheshire, causing Ben to blush and turn his attention to his homework. "You wouldn't be tiny and cute for Jason to paw." Gwen continued to flip through the garments until something new caught her eye. "What's this?" This caught Ben's attention and he turned towards his cousin. Gwen stretched her hand to the back of the closet until she felt the furry cream thing and pulled it out. "So this is the jacket Jason got you on your first date? What is it? Chinchilla?" She asked, admiring the style and softness of the coat.

"Gwendolyn Isabelle Tennyson – step away from the coat!" Ben quickly moved from his desk and took the beloved gift away from Gwen. He held it to his chest possessively. "Borrow whatever you want but this coat is off limits!"

Whatever foul mood Gwen had when she first arrived at Ben's place was gone, replaced by genuine laughter. Ben was just too cute when it came to Jason. It's like a great weight was lifted from his shoulders. With Jason protecting Ben during their missions, Ben could finally act like a normal teen; a teen in love – despite the 'saviour of the universe with an alien devise strapped to his wrist' issue.

"You know what?" Gwen asked. "When was the last time we all went out? You know, just for fun?"

Ben paused. "Come think of it, since I started dating Jason, we haven't gone anywhere fun as a group..." His eyes widened. "Oh my god, Gwen, I'm so sorry! I completely ditched you and Kevin!"

Gwen felt ready to laugh at her cousin again. "Don't worry about it." Normally she would have been pissed that Ben ditched his friends for a relationship, but seeing how happy he was for the past month, she couldn't fault him; she'd probably act the same way herself. "How about we go to the beach tomorrow?"

"I'll text Jason." Ben placed the fur coat back in the closet and retrieved his phone from his desk.

Wait a minute, is that a new phone? "Ben, when did you get that?"

"Oh, this?" Ben asked lifting the devise to show his cousin. "Jason bought me the new iPhone last week."

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson," Gwen said, in a playful tone. "Who would have ever believed that you found yourself a sugar daddy?"

The brunet eyed the redhead. "Shut up!" He giggled, as he texted his boyfriend.

_Wanna go 2 beach w/ bffs 2morrow?_

Within seconds, Ben received a smiley face response. "Looks like we're going to the beach tomorrow. You're going to text Kevin?"

As Gwen pulled out her cell, it vibrated. She opened the message to see that it was from Kevin.

_Tv on ch3 now!_

"Odd," Gwen turned on the TV in Ben's room. "Kevin just texted to put the TV on channel 3."

"Why?"

"I don't know..." Gwen set it on the desired channel.

"_Welcome back to the Will Harangue Nation!"_ Ah jeez, this douche again..._ "We continue our talk about Ben Tennyson, the teenage alien menace who's been corrupting our youth into believing he's a superhero, now corrupting them more with his – new lifestyle." _As the reporter was talking, a picture of Ben, embracing Jason was displayed. _"Something must be done about this threat, America! First, he's been corrupting our youth with his so-called heroics, now this teen harlot is parading around with some man in an ungodly relationship!"_

Both Gwen and Ben were angered by the words. "How dare that jerk say such a thing?"

As Will Harangue continued to talk badly about Ben, he was interrupted by a call from a network executive. "Mr. Harangue!"

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. This caller is Ms. Foster, the network's chairperson. Ms. Foster! How are you?"

"Mr. Harangue!" Obviously his boss was not happy. "I have been receiving many viewer calls, complaining about your homophobic comments towards a teenager!" Will began to stutter. "I also received word that this network was bought-out by a Mr. Jason Henning!" Ben's jaw dropped, hearing that his boyfriend just bought the network that his current nemesis worked. "As of this moment, Mr. Harangue, you are cancelled!"

"What the fu― " The network cut to static. Gwen shut off the TV and turned to her cousin.

"Oh my god..." Ben whispered. "My boyfriend just fired Will Harangue..."

* * *

The next day, Kevin picked up Ben and Gwen to go to the beach. As much as Kevin wanted to tell Ben what he felt, Gwen always stopped him, leaving Ben confused. When they reached the beach and changed (Kevin in black board shorts, Ben in green board shorts, and Gwen in a white swimsuit), they were not expecting to run into a good friend...

"Cooper?" Ben called out to the technopath, who was standing in the middle of the beach.

"Oh, hi guys." Cooper greeted his friends. The trio had to admit, since losing the weight and getting his growth spurt, Cooper looked good – black board shorts and all.

"Yo, Coop, why you standin' in the middle of the beach?" Kevin asked.

"I'm waiting for my girlfriend..."

Gwen was surprised. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Cooper smiled. "There she is now." He pointed behind them, his smile broadening to his girl.

As they turned around, their jaws dropped. Walking towards them in a gold halter bikini was no other than Charmcaster.

"Charmcaster?" Gwen and Kevin were floored.

"Hi guys." She smiled at the trio and stood next to Cooper, kissing him on the cheek. She smiled at her boyfriend and asked, "Sorry you had to wait for so long."

He smiled back at her. "I just got here not too long ago."

"Hold on..." Kevin was confused. "How did you –"

"Get back from Yawa Tobsic?" Charmcaster finished Kevin's question. "I have this guy to thank." She smiled at Cooper. "Actually, I also have Ben to thank." She smiled at Ben, and continued with her tale. "Ben asked Cooper to build a trans-dimensional gateway with the symbols for Yawa Tobsic programmed in the circuitry. By the time Cooper found me, I managed to restore the balance of my home world and stopped Adwaita's evil rule for good." She wrapped her arms around Cooper. "It didn't take long for us to fall in love." Gwen and Kevin seemed sceptical of the relationship but Ben was thrilled to hear that they found each other.

That's so sweet!" Ben exclaimed. "actually, speaking of love, I should have a serious talk with my boyfriend..." He left the group and started wandering the beach.

Charmcaster lifted an eyebrow. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Ben's been dating a gorgeous college guy for awhile." Gwen answered.

"Huh..." Cooper looked in Ben's direction, seeing him run towards a dark-haired older teen in white board shorts. "I never took Ben as the type to swing that way..."

"That's his boyfriend?" Charmcaster asked.

"Yup." Kevin answered, unimpressed. "That's the guy Ben's seeing and fired Will Harangue. Ben better be giving him an earful for gong that far without talkin' to him first"

"Him?" Charmcaster and Cooper were shocked.

"Uh huh." Gwen nodded. "Actually, we'll introduce you." Kevin rolled his eyes and Gwen gave him a glare. Charmcaster, being the observant one, saw this and figured there were issues that need to be dealt with. As they walked towards Ben and Jason, they caught the beginning of, what Kevin hoped, a scolding.

"Jason, we need to talk about your buying off a TV network and getting a man fired –" Ben was cut off by Jason's lips pressed to his; the brunet forgot what he was lecturing the older teen about and melted into the kiss.

Charmcaster turned to Gwen and whispered, "Is it just me, or is this incredibly hot?" Gwen couldn't verbally answer but nodded her head. She felt like a voyeur but couldn't find herself to divert her eyes. It seems as though the same could be said about Charmcaster. Watching Jason kiss Ben was so enthralling.

Cooper snapped his fingers in front of the girls while Kevin cleared his throat, the kissing couple breaking the kiss and breaking the staring spell that the girls had. Ben couldn't help but blush with embarrassment. To mask it, he cleared his throat. "Um, Jason...I'd like you to meet some friends of mine. This is Cooper and his girlfriend Charmcaster." As the introductions were made, Jason shook the newcomers' hands.

"Charmcaster?" Jason quirked an eyebrow. " That's an interesting name." Charmcaster felt a weird sensation while shaking Jason's hand. It was like a brief wave of vertigo that no one noticed. She decided to ignore it; probably it was the humidity.

"That's actually my spellbound name."

"Then your real name is..."

"Sorry, can't say." She turned to Cooper and smiled. "I haven't even told this sweet guy what it is yet."

"Hopefully soon, though, right?" Cooper had a look of innocence in his eyes. Charmcaster only smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"How about a game of volleyball?" Jason asked.

"I'm game." Ben answered.

"Sure, I'll join." Cooper chimed in.

"Never heard of it." Charmcaster replied truthfully. The others eyed her, surprised to hear that the witch never heard of the sport.

"I'll sit this out and stay with Charmcaster." Gwen offered. "Kevin, why don't you join the guys for a game?"

"Yeah, whatever..." the raven responded, not thrilled about it.

"Okay then, how do we team up?" Cooper asked.

"How about me with Kevin, and Cooper and Jason." Ben suggested.

"I was kinda hoping to team with you." Jason responded truthfully.

Ben leaned up and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. "This way you can know a little more about Cooper." He gave an innocent smile, knowing that Jason couldn't resist it. "It'll make me happy if you made friends with my friends." Jason couldn't argue, especially whenever Ben smiled and did a 'butterfly flutter' of his eyelashes.

"Alright." Jason conceded. He picked up a volley ball and turned to Cooper. "Alright, Cooper. Ready to win?"

"Sounds good to me." Cooper followed after Jason to a net, followed by Kevin and Ben. As the boys played, Gwen decided to take this opportunity to talk with Charmcaster.

"What's with you and Cooper?" Gwen asked bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Charmcaster questioned back.

"I mean Cooper doesn't seem like your type."

"Cooper is a smart, sweet guy, Gwen." Charmcaster responded. "There's a lot more to him than what you know about him." Gwen raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what the witch meant. "I know about your history; Cooper told me everything. From when he met you and Ben during that summer road trip to his former crush on you."

"So you're using him..."

The witch gave the anodyte a look to say that she was insulted at such a claim. "No." She responded calmly. "Only someone shallow and petty would do such a thing. Cooper is too nice of a guy to do that." She smiled softly, watching the blond spike the volley ball at Kevin, who missed and tripped into Ben. "Cooper is the most caring, sensitive, kind gentleman I have ever met. You know how hard it is to find a guy who knows how to be chivalrous in this day and age?" Gwen could only nod. "Seriously though, Gwen; you should have given Cooper a chance. His type is a rare breed." She looked back at the volley ball game, watching Jason and Cooper beating Kevin and Ben. "By the looks of it, Ben seems to have found one himself."

Gwen only smiled; she's never seen Charmcaster like this – it seemed as though she truly had developed strong feelings for her technopathic friend. "Sorry about the accusation." The redhead apologised.

"Forget about it." The silver-haired girl responded. "You were only looking out for your friend. Trust me; I would rather die than hurt Cooper." This reassured Gwen that Charmcaster was serious about Cooper. They continued to watch the boys play, Ben and Kevin somehow catching up in points with the other boys. There was something..._off_...about the way Kevin was playing. "What's with Kevin? The way he's bumping into Ben and not playing as competitively that I figured he would be...what's going on?"

Gwen lowered her voice, making sure no one but Charmcaster could hear her. "Kevin's in love with Ben."

"But I thought you and Kevin are dating..."

"_Were_ dating..."

"And Ben's with Jason..." Gwen glanced at Charmcaster. "Oh, this is fucked up."

"Tell me about it."

"Does Ben know?"

"No. I told Kevin to leave Ben alone since he's happy with Jason." Gwen answered. Charmcaster couldn't believe it. Gwen must feel like a substitute after finding out that her ex-boyfriend wanted her male cousin. The girls remained silent for the rest of the time the boys were playing. After awhile, Cooper and Jason won the game.

Charmcaster whistled and cheered. "Way to go, honey!" Cooper smiled and walked towards her and kissed her. Jason walked towards Ben and hugged him.

"Kiss for the winner?" Ben laughed and kissed his boyfriend. As the pulled away from the kiss, Jason looked at his watch to realise that it was 3:00 in the afternoon. "Wow, I never realised how late it was! I need to get to the library before it closes to get a few books for a project." Ben pouted, making Jason smirk. "Don't worry. I'll take you out somewhere nice tomorrow night to make up for leaving early today." He turned to shake Cooper and Charmcaster's hands then gathered his stuff. "cooper, Charmcaster, sorry for leaving, but it was reaaly nice meeting you."

As Jason left the group, Charmcaster felt a wave of dizziness; she was about to fall on the sand until Cooper caught her. "Are you okay?" He asked worried, about his girlfriend.

"I'm...fine." She rested a hand on his arm and smiled to reassure her boyfriend. "Maybe the heat got to me."

"Gwen and I will get you something to eat and drink." Ben offered.

"Yeah," Gwen added. "You might be malnourished and dehydrated being out too long."

"Thanks." Charmcaster said to the Tennyson cousins as they walked towards the snack shack.

When they were out of earshot, Cooper turned to his girlfriend and asked, "What was that really about?"

"I don't know." Charmcaster truthfully answered. "It was like I was...hit by a bout of vertigo...then enthralled...for a time. It was only until Jason left that I felt like myself." She turned her attention to Kevin, giving the dark teen a level stare. "One thing I know for sure, there is something _off_ about Ben's boyfriend."

* * *

_**Author's note:**__ And I think I'll leave things here..._

_I know, I know – some of you want to kill me now...put it this way, there would be more interesting things to read come next chapter! XD At least Kevin has Charmcaster on his side (we're kinda getting a Team Edward/Team Jacob thing happening – only it's with Jason and Kevin!)_

_I can't believe how much I wrote for this chapter...it's like the longest chapter I've ever written! I had fun writing it though. And kudos for the reviewers who caught on so early that something was odd about Ben's beau – a basket of cookies go out to you!_

_Again, thank you to those who reviewed and placed this story on their favourites/alerts lists. It's because of you that this story keeps going. Your feedback is much appreciated XOXO._


	7. Chapter 7:Truths

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own any part of the Ben 10 franchise._

_Sorry for the long delay in updating...my muses were on strike. Well, the bitches are back to fuel my writer's block and here's a new chapter! Yay!_

* * *

**Chapter 7: Truths**

How Ben found himself in such a position was beyond him...

When Jason called him after he finished school, the older boy suggested that Ben visit him at his place to watch a movie. Ben anxiously said yes, welcoming the opportunity to finally see where his boyfriend lived. Well, this visit involved two surprises...

The first surprise was that, at eighteen years old, Jason owned his own two-story house. The second surprise was Jason's choice of movie – _Dawn of the Dead_ – a movie that was part of Ben's least favourite movie genres. So, at the moment, Ben found himself sitting next to his boyfriend on a loveseat, the smaller teen hiding his face in the bigger teen's chest, trying to avoid the gore that was showing on the 62-inch television screen.

"_Why_ did you have to show _this_ movie?" Ben whined.

Jason smirked as he tightened his hold on the lithe figure pressed against him. "If I didn't, I wouldn't get to hold you like this." Ben groaned at the comment, making Jason laugh. "It's okay, Ben." The dark-haired teen nudged the brunet in his arms. "The worst part is done."

Naively, Ben slowly turned his head towards the large screen, just to witness a zombie attack an unsuspecting victim and start ripping flesh. Ben (girlishly) screamed, throwing his arms around Jason's neck, shutting his eyes close and pressing his head again against his boyfriend's chest. Jason laughed again as Ben muttered "You jerk – I hate you."

Jason gently leaned Ben's head away from his chest and lifted his chin up with his hand. "Aw, you don't mean that, Kitten." He cooed, using his new nickname for the ultimatrix bearer. The devragian pressed his lips to the soft full lips of the xenomorph, smiling to himself as Ben lived up to his _Kitten_ nickname, softly purring during the kiss. The light kiss deepened, stealing their breaths away and igniting excitement. Jason began to lean Ben back, the brunet lying down on the loveseat, the older teen pressing his body against him.

Ben's mind went into a fog; this was the first time he's ever gone so far in a relationship, it was exhilarating and daunting at the same time. He felt strong hands roam his thighs, slowly moving towards his waist, lifting his shirt to feel the soft skin of his stomach. Ben gasped at the feeling; Jason's lips left his, slowly kissing Ben's jaw until he reached his neck and began sucking at the supple skin. As Jason's hands tried lifting up Ben's shirt, the young brunet tried to push the dark-haired boy away, gasping, "Jason, wait...stop..." But instead of stopping, Jason kissed Ben's lips, stealing his breath away, making the ultimatrix bearer moan. Ben was caught up being aroused until he felt a growing erection rub against his crotch and a hand started to unbutton his pants. He tried pushing Jason away again, but Jason was much more muscular than him; Ben decided that there was only one way to prevent his boyfriend from taking things too far. Ben rolled on the loveseat, forcing Jason to lose his balance and fall on the floor.

"What the hell!" Jason glared at his boyfriend.

"Why didn't you stop when I said _stop_?" Ben glared back.

Hazel eyes blinked at green eyes. "I'm...I'm sorry, Ben." Came the apology. "It's just that – we've been dating for _three months_ now...don't you think we should be a little more – _involved_ – by now?"

Green eyes blinked at hazel eyes. "Jason...this is very _new_ to me." Ben whispered redoing the fastening of his pants. "I thought you would _respect_ me enough to not move things _too_ fast."

"Ben," Jason started, moving back to his seat next to Ben. "You know I love you right? I just wanted to show you..." Jason was cut off by the beeping of Ben's ultimatrix. As Ben was about to answer it, Jason held onto his hands. "Don't answer it." Jason said. "We should discuss us first."

Ben blinked at his boyfriend. "I can't ignore this, Jason. You know that." Ben said. "It could be a distress call forwarded by my grandfather." Jason kept his mouth shut. There is no way he was going to place himself between Ben and his grandfather – or his parents. "Hello?" Ben answered the call.

"Yo, Tennyson!" Kevin answered roughly. "Gwen's been trying to call you on your cell for the last five minutes! Where the fuck are you?"

Ben didn't know how to respond. "He's here with me, Kevin." Jason answered.

The couple could hear Kevin let out a breath that evidently showed annoyance. "Well, haul your ass to the following coordinates, Tennyson. Max got a tip about the Forever Knights going after some alien tech again." Kevin ended the call, leaving Ben and Jason in uncomfortable silence.

Ben moved from his seat and checked his cell phone for the missed call from Gwen, to realise that he had it off. "Damn..." Ben muttered. "Gwen's gonna kill me..."

"Ben, wait..." Jason got up and held Ben's arms. "What's between you and Kevin?"

"What?" Ben gasped, bewildered by the question.

"I'm serious, Ben." Jason looked directly into Ben's eyes. "I didn't want to say anything before...but this is bothering me. From the time we met, Kevin's been acting like I'm a third wheel and the way he looks at you and acts around you – especially that day at the beach..." The dark-haired older teen released his hold on the brunet. "Is there..._was_ there...anything between you two...?"

"What? No!" Ben was shocked that Jason insinuated that he and Kevin were involved. "Kevin is just a good friend..._my best friend_...there has never been, nor will there _ever_ be anything between us!" Ben started to walk towards the door to leave. "There is too much history between us for _that_ to ever happen. I better go. My team needs me."

Jason released a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry. I don't like being the jealous boyfriend, but I had to make sure." He moved towards Ben, wrapping his arms around the lithe waist and giving an apologetic kiss. "I'll teleport you where you need to go."

Ben didn't respond. He just allowed Jason to teleport them to where they had to go, to help Gwen and Kevin.

* * *

Typical of the Forever Knights, they were after ancient alien technology that was unearthed during an archaeological dig and displayed in a museum. And typical of Ben's team, they caught the knights and arrested them for their crimes. As Ben and Gwen were releasing the armoured human villains to Max's custody, Kevin and Jason stood back, watching the Tennyson family continue to do their business.

"I know what you're up to..." Jason muttered in a low voice that only Kevin could hear. "Ben is too innocent and sweet to realise it but I'm onto you..." Kevin arched an eyebrow to the bane of his existence. "I know that you have a thing for Ben, and I'm telling you this now – Ben is _**mine**_."

This pissed off Kevin. "Ben is not an object." He seethed. "He's a person – and I don't like the way you treat him as a potential notch for your bedpost!"

"_Believe _me..." Jason goaded. "The words _'potential notch'_ won't be used anytime soon..."

"That does it!" Kevin yelled, giving Jason a right hook across his face, getting the attention of Ben, Gwen and Max, and a vicious fight with Jason began.

"Jason, Kevin – stop it, _now_!" Ben ran towards the fighting boys and pulled them away from each other. "That's enough!" The larger teens looked at the livid expression of the petite brunet. "Kevin, we need to talk."

"Why him?" Jason yelled, jealousy apparent in his voice.

"Because I saw him throw the first punch." Ben glared at him. "I'll be talking with you later."

"What for?"

"Because I'm sure you said something to set Kevin off and for taking the fight too far!"

"Fine." Jason released a frustrated sigh. He leaned forward to kiss Ben, but the younger teen moved his head, the intended kiss landing on his cheek instead of his lips. "I'll see you later at my place, Kitten." He teleported away.

* * *

Fearing what this argument may lead to, Gwen approached her cousin and ex-boyfriend, ready to act as a mediator (and prevent Kevin from admitting his feelings to Ben) but Max stopped her.

"Let them work this out alone." Max's tone was firm and resolute.

"But, Grandpa..." Gwen interjected.

The elderly man placed a hand on his granddaughter's shoulder, leading her away from the soon-to-be arguing boys. "Sorry, Gwen. But whatever they need to say must be said." He led her to the Rust Bucket, ready to drive her home. He had his suspicions as to what the discussion may lead towards; although there may be mixed emotions about how the talk may go, Max trusted his grandson and he needed to deal with this alone.

* * *

"Mind explaining to me why you picked a fight with my boyfriend?" Ben demanded.

Kevin released a frustrated sigh. "That guy ain't right, Ben."

"You said the same thing about Michael Morningstar."

"And I was right about him." Kevin narrowed his eyes. "I don't like the way that fuckin' douche bag treats you like his personal property."

"Excuse me?" Ben quirked an eyebrow. "He treats me like I matter!"

"What do you mean by that?" Kevin yelled.

"At least around Jason, I don't feel like a third wheel..._unlike you_...Jason acts like I'm someone special, like I'm worthy to be loved. _You_ on the other hand – you could care less if I'm dead!"

"What the hell!" Kevin was pissed. "Why would you think that?"

"Oh, come on, Kevin," Ben glared at Kevin. "You've always treated me like I was nothing – _especially_ while you were dating _my cousin_...Whenever we were in a fight – Gwen has powers to defend herself yet you run to help her at a drop of a hat...when the omnitrix _and_ the ultimatrix malfunctioned and I ask for help – I have to fend for myself!" Kevin's eyes began to widen. "At least with Jason – it's nice to feel that someone wants to protect me!"

"Ben, you can protect yourself."

"Yeah, sometimes." Ben's voice became sombre. "But it wouldn't hurt for the people that I consider my friends – _my allies _– to treat me like they actually _cared_ about me."

"You think I don't care?" Kevin bewildered. "Of course I care about you!"

Ben couldn't help but scoff at the statement. "For someone who's _suppose_ to be my best friend...you have a funny way of showing it."

"That's it?" Brown eyes narrowed at green eyes. "That's all you think of me? A friend?"

"After the way you attacked my boyfriend and the way you treated me...I'm beginning to second-guess that..."

As Ben turned around to walk away, Kevin grabbed him by his arm and swung him around, until the brunet slammed into the older teen's chest, strong arms wrapped around the lithe waist. "Ben, I love you."

Ben pushed back from Kevin, eyes wide in bewilderment. "You what?"

Before Ben could utter another word, thin lips were pressed against his full ones. He was in shock; not only did Kevin, who was supposed to be his friend (although there were moments where he questioned the validity of said friendship) confess to be in love with him, but the way Kevin kissed him – the way he would nibble at the younger teen's lower lip, the way the older teen's tongue would teasingly caress against his own, the way his hands would roam up and down his arms then move to his back, pressing his chest against the firm muscular one, aforementioned hands sensually moved along his spine – made Ben weak in the knees. Ben thought Jason's kiss was electrifying, but Kevin's kiss was breathtaking by ten times. '_I shouldn't be thinking like this,_' Ben thought. '_I shouldn't be __**doing**__ this! I'm supposed to be in love with Jason!_' Ben realised that he had to stop this – _now!_ He firmly placed his hands on Kevin's chest and pushed the raven-haired away from him and slapped him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The brunet stepped away from the raven-haired teen.

Kevin just stared at the brunet, stunned over the passionate kiss and the ensuing slap.

"My God...you know I'm with Jason and you have to do that?"

"Ben," Kevin stretched his hands out to touch Ben, but the xenomorph stepped away from the osmosian. "I'm sorry for kissing you without your permission but I'm not sorry for being in love with you."

Ben just shook his head. "I have to go." He quickly set the ultimatrix to Big Chill and changed into the form of the necrofriggian, flying into the night's sky and became invisible – hoping that Kevin wouldn't follow him.

* * *

After flying for several hours, Ben finally returned to Jason's house; to confront him about his fight with Kevin and to tell him the truth about the kiss. Returning to his human form, the brunet rang the doorbell and waited for his dark-haired boyfriend to answer the door.

Jason opened the door, escorting the small teen into his home. "I expected you to be here hours ago, Kitten." Ben began to fidget, balancing his weight from one foot to another, his fingers twitching against each other until he settled to lean against a wall. By reading Ben's body language, Jason was livid.

Ben down-casted his eyes and whispered, "Jason, we need to talk..."

"He kissed you..."

"What?" Ben eyes widened. '_How did he figure that out?_' Ben thought. "Jason, I..."

What happened next, Ben never expected. Jason's hand balled into a fist, slamming it against the wall close to Ben's face, leaving a portion of the wall broken. Ben recoiled in fear, never seeing Jason so furious before; the look in the older teen's eyes terrified the brunet. Jason grabbed Ben's arms violently, almost shaking him until green eyes met hazel ones. "Ben, you are to _**never**_ see Kevin again!"

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Finally done! (At least this chapter...)_

_Poor Benji! His boyfriend is the violent possessive, abusive type! (Sorry, Ben...) I'm sure a lot of you saw this coming..._

_Thank you to all who have reviewed this story and/or have placed this in your favourite or alert lists; there's a batch of cookies for you (although they are somewhat bitter, considering poor Ben's current dilemma)._

_Reviews and constructive criticisms are much appreciated; they keep my muses creative and happy ^.^_


	8. Chapter 8: Entrapment

_Well, lovely readers...here's (finally!) another chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 8: Entrapment**

Menacing hazel eyes glared into green eyes; the green eyes showed uncertainty and fear, glossing with unshed tears. Jason's scowl relaxed, as well as the deathly grip he had on Ben's arms. "Sorry, Ben." Jason whispered as he gave the petite brunet a loving embrace. Ben had to control his reaction to cringe from the touch. "I don't know what came over me...but the thought of you and Kevin..." The grip of the hug tightened, jealousy apparent in the touch causing Ben to stiffen. The embrace loosened again, Jason leaning back to look Ben in the eyes, fear still reflecting in the emerald orbs. "Listen, Kitten," he cooed as he held Ben's chin to look at him. "As long as you limit your time with that asshole Levin, I promise to keep you happy."

Ben just stared at Jason. _'How could someone who was so considerate and romantic when we first met become such a monster?'_ He thought. This dark side of Jason had Ben scared and wondering how well he actually knew his boyfriend.

Jason began kissing Ben, the loving action a complete contrast to his earlier demeanour. The older male deepened the kiss, playfully nibbling the soft lips of the younger, seducing Ben into the embrace and working his way back into the brunet's heart. Strong hands started to affectionately rub lean arms, gradually moving towards the svelte waist; Jason's firm fingers began to massage the small of Ben's back before moving down to caress his ass. The sudden molestation jolted Ben's mind to push Jason back, perplexed over the action.

"What the hell?" Jason looked irritated that Ben stopped the make-out session for the second time that night.

Ben paused, trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn't enrage Jason too much. "It's late."

The older male's demeanour softened, pulling the teen back into his arms and started to kiss along his jaw line. "It isn't _that_ late. You can sleep over."

Ben tried to push Jason back again. "I can't." Seeing the dark glare forming in hazel eyes, Ben quickly blurted, "I have a curfew and I still have school tomorrow."

"Very well." Jason answered, not pleased with the response but still accepted it. "I'll take you home."

"I'll fly, thanks." Ben quickly got out of the embrace and walked out of the house, transforming into JetRay and flew home.

* * *

Within an instant, Ben was home. He walked passed his parents and went straight into his room. As he was about to lock the door behind him, there was a scratching sound at the door. He opened it to reveal a German shepherd who whined at him; he allowed the friendly creature into his room before locking the door. The scared and confused teen leaned against the door before slipping down the wooden surface until he was crouched on the floor, his dog nudging her master's cheek with her nose. "I don't know what to do, Mila." Ben whispered, Mila making a sympathetic whining noise as her master wrapped his arms around her neck. "Tonight I just saw a side of Jason that I never knew existed and it scares me." The dog rubbed her head against the saddened brunet's cheek, trying to comfort him. _'All this because Kevin just __**had**__ to tell me that he loves me and he just __**had**__ to kiss me.'_ He thought bitterly. "I just feel so trapped...like if I do or say anything wrong to upset Jason, _especially_ if it involves Kevin, he might do something awful." Tears started to run down his cheeks, the only minor comfort to his pained heart at the moment being the sympathy from his canine friend.

* * *

The following days were very upsetting for Ben.

Whenever Max would call him to meet Gwen and Kevin for a mission, Jason was there waiting for him – almost _stalking _him...always standing near him during the fight, never letting Ben leave his sight. Especially with Kevin nearby. Whenever Ben accidentally gazed Kevin's eyes, Jason would roughly grab his arm, almost leaving a bruise, then drag Ben away, practically accusing the young brunet of fantasizing about having an affair behind his back. Ben would give a frightened look, which would lead to Jason to apologising and act lovingly again, followed by lavish gifts. _'More like signs of ownership,'_ the brunet would think sombrely. The bouts of aggressive jealousy and possessiveness really got to Ben. So much so that he stopped answering all incoming calls – from his cell _and_ his plumbers badge.

"Ben, what is going on with you?"

The sudden voice jerked Ben from his thoughts while he tried to do his homework from the living room couch. He turned around to face his father and grandfather, both men having concerned expressions marring their features. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Ben, you've been skipping Plumber missions and you haven't answered any of my calls." Max fixed Ben a stern glare. "This isn't like you."

"I'm behind on some homework..." Ben turned back to his book. "You know how bad I am with Physics."

"True," Carl commented. "But it would be easier to believe you if it weren't for the fact that you're holding your Biology text book." Carl grabbed the book out of Ben's grip and sat next to his son. "There is something obviously bothering you. I'm your father, Ben...if something _is_ bothering you, you should tell me or your grandfather – we can help."

Tears began to form in the brunet's eyes; his father pulled him into a reassuring hug, his grandfather sitting next to him, resting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"Ben, what happened?" Although it sounded like a question, Ben knew that Max was ordering him to tell him everything. He broke down into sobs, inaudibly muttering everything that happened from Jason's pressuring him into sex, Kevin's confession and kiss, to Jason's violent jealousy and possessiveness. Max and Carl had to strain their hearing to catch everything that Ben murmured.

"If Jason is actually like this, Ben...you have to end this relationship." Carl reasoned. He _knew_ that there was something off about Jason from the first time they met, but he never fathomed that he would be an abuser.

"Might I suggest a nice _'text message dump'_." Max said. "If his temperament is as bad as you say, it would be safer if you kept as much distance between you and him as possible."

"Maybe so Grandpa," Ben said. He knew that his grandfather had a valid point, but he figured that would only upset Jason more. "But I think talking to Jason in person would be more mature and I might be able to get through to him better this way." He hugged Carl and Max. "Thanks for your help." He left the house, ready to confront his boyfriend.

"Wear your jacket!" Carl called out but Ben already closed the door behind him. "Do you think that boy would leave Ben alone?" Carl asked, worried about his only child's safety.

"I doubt it." Max replied. He was also worried about his youngest grandchild's safety. "But for Ben's sake, I hope it works out for him."

* * *

Ben found himself standing in front of Jason's place, debating on how to break up with him in a way that wouldn't provoke the older male's temper. He released a shaky sigh and rang the doorbell.

"Hey, Kitten!" Jason's cheerful voice called out to him from a second floor window. "The door's unlocked so just come up to my room!" Hesitantly, Ben entered the large home, and wandered up the spiralling staircase to the second floor, looking for Jason. As he continued to wander on the second floor and walked passed an open door, he suddenly felt a strong hand grab his arm and pulled him in. "There you are, Kitten." Jason pulled Ben into an affectionate hug, then passionately kissed him.

Ben was caught off guard from the kiss that it took awhile for it to register in his mind that he was in Jason's bedroom. The large cream-coloured room was decorated with expensive mahogany furniture where the four-post bed was covered with satin sheets. Before Ben knew it, Jason had set him to sit on the bed.

"Jason –" Ben started but Jason silenced him by placing a finger over the brunet's lips.

"Before you say anything, just listen," even though Jason said this with a smile, his tone clearly stated _do not disturb me while I speak_. "Do you know what tomorrow is?" Ben shook his head no. "It's our four-month anniversary!" Ben was bewildered. _'He actually kept track of that?'_ Seeing the surprised expression on the petite brunet, Jason continued. "We're going to celebrate...we'll stay in Paris for the weekend; just you, me, and some of the most romantic sights that Paris could offer." The brunet just stared at the black-haired male. _'Is he insane? We've been together for only four months and he wants us to go to a city in Europe to celebrate?'_ "I was going to wait until tomorrow to do this," Jason moved from his place next to Ben, going on bended knee. "Ben," Jason removed a red satin box from his pants pocket and opened it to reveal a gold-band, diamond-encrusted ring, "will you marry me?"

Ben didn't know how to react. Although the ring was beautiful, he questioned Jason's sanity for proposing. "But...we're too young..." he blurted.

"Age knows no boundaries, Kitten." Came the response. "Besides, gotta let every potential suitor of yours know that you're spoken for."

'_So, this is a symbol of ownership.'_ Ben thought bitterly. _'He just wanted to brand me as his personal property.' _Ben moved away from the bed, surprising Jason with the action. Green eyes locked with hazel eyes; an unsteady breath escaped Ben's lips as he answered, "No."

"What!"

"Jason, I will not marry you." Ben steadied himself as the older male got up from his kneeling position and moved to approach him. "I am not an object that is to be owned – I'm a person." As much as Ben wanted to flinch over the glare that Jason fixed him, he continued. "The reason why I came here today is to tell you that things between us are moving _too fast_. We need to slow things down."

Before Ben knew what was happening, Jason slapped him hard, forcing him to fall on the bed. "You stupid little slut!" As Ben tried to sit up on the bed, Jason pushed him back, grabbing his upper arms and shook him violently. "I treat you like royalty and you try to break up with me! For Kevin?"

Terrified by the violent outburst, Ben tried to push Jason but couldn't due to his strength. "This has nothing to do with Kevin!" Ben screamed. "The problem is your temper! How can you expect me to marry you when you act like an abusive jerk!" Before Ben could register his mistake of what he said, Jason slapped him again.

"You think I'm abusive?" Jason said darkly, gripping Ben's shirt tightly and causing it to rip open. "I'll show you _abusive_." A hand gripped around Ben's neck, almost choking him; Ben tried to reach the ultimatrix but Jason moved his hand from around Ben's neck to his wrist, moving the appendage with the ultimatrix above his head. "It's about time I showed you and the world whom you belong to." Jason snarled as he grabbed Ben's other wrist and moved it above his head as well, gripping both wrists together in a way that Ben couldn't activate the ultimatrix.

"Jason, _**stop**_!" Ben screamed, thrashing under Jason's weight, his knee moving up and forcefully making contact with Jason groin.

The jolt of pain only aggravated Jason's rage more. "Enough of this." Jason's fist connected against Ben's cheek, forcing Ben to whimper from the pain and panic over the action that Jason was going to do. "I've waited long enough for this. Since you're refusing to accommodate, I'm just taking what's rightfully mine!" As Jason gripped Ben's jeans and broke the zipper open, Ben's body violently shook, a strange energy swelling through his body.

"I said _**STOP!**_" Ben's body released a surge of magenta energy that forced Jason to propel off of him and pushed him against the ceiling. Ben didn't take the time to realise that he just used mana to get his ex-boyfriend away from him; all he knew was that he had to get away from him. He ran out of the bedroom towards the stairs but Jason caught up to him, grabbing Ben's arm and tried to drag him back into the bedroom. "_**GET AWAY FROM ME!**_" Ben screamed, pushing Jason away. As Ben pushed Jason back, he stumbled ready to fall down the stairs. When Jason tried to grab him, a swirl of mana appeared, teleporting Ben out of the house.

Jason just stared down the staircase, thoroughly pissed that Ben got away. "Damn it!" He shouted. "Don't think this is over, Ben..._you are mine_!"

* * *

"You did what?" The piercing shriek echoed in the garage, causing Kevin to flinch. "How can you do something so stupid?"

"Look, Gwen," the raven-haired teen glared at the redhead. "I admit it was impulsive of me to kiss Ben... But you've seen the way Jason's been treating him!" Gwen narrowed her eyes. True, Jason was been acting _slightly _possessive of Ben, but that gave Kevin no right to kiss her cousin. "Gwen, that fuck-tard ain't right." Kevin reasoned. "No amount of jealousy justifies treating someone you supposedly love like property!" Gwen jolted after hearing those words; after reflecting on what Kevin said, Gwen realised that it was true – Jason had been acting as though Ben belonged to him to the point that one occasion he has pulled Ben away from her as the cousins talked privately; it occurred to her that things may be bad in the relationship to the point that Ben has been ignoring all of them for the past few days.

As Gwen continued to worry about Ben, a swirl of mana appeared above her and Kevin, catching them off-guard. As Kevin was ready fight whatever might appear, Ben materialised and fell; Gwen quickly energised a platform for Ben to land on and gently lowered him to the ground. "Ben?" She whispered, as she and Kevin approached the brunet. "What's going on?" She was about to ask him about his use of mana to teleport to the garage until she looked at her cousin more closely. She saw Ben's dishevelled look as Kevin knelt down next to him. Kevin lightly touched Ben's shoulder, frightening the younger teen and causing him to slap the older teen. As Kevin was about to yell at him, he realised the bruises across Ben's face, neck and wrists, as well as the torn condition of his clothes. It was obvious what happened who was the cause of it. Kevin's heart broke and he pulled Ben into a reassuring hug.

Ben gasped as he realised who was hugging him. "Kevin?" He broke down into tears.

As Kevin continued to hold Ben, trying to reassure him that he was safe and that everything would be fine, he exchanged a look with Gwen; an unspoken agreement between them: _**Jason will pay for what he's done.**_

* * *

_**Authors: Note:**_ _And I think I'll end things here..._

_Sorry for the long wait, sweethearts. This chapter had gone through a few revisions during the planning process before I finally got it typed._

_Poor Benji :( Jason tried to rape him – thankfully his Anodite powers kicked in! Yes, lovely readers – Ben is now an Anodite! Cue in Grandma Verdona (at least that would be later as this story progresses)!_

_Many thanks to those who reviewed and placed this story in your favourite lists and/or story alerts. _

_Reviews and constructive criticisms are welcomed. They fuel my muses – happy muses produce better tales! ;)_


	9. Chapter 9: Stalked

_I was about to write a disclaimer, but I figured – Wait a sec, I wrote one for Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and the rating for this story is M...that's sufficient!_

_A special note of thanks to all who reviews and placed this story on your favourite lists – it's because of you I keep going. Y'all rock!_

* * *

**Chapter 9: Stalked**

"_**Get away from me!"**_

_Ben struggled against the tight grip that Jason had on his arms, only to have his back slammed against the wall. "Stupid whore!" Jason spat, leaning his head into the scared teen's neck biting him hard, causing the youth to scream. "If you think you can get away from me that easily, think again!"_

"_I said get away from me!" Ben stomped on Jason's foot, ready to run, but the older boy caught him and dragged him back to the bedroom and threw him onto the bed. As the small teen began to struggle to get up, he felt the weight of the older teen pressed against him, forcing him back onto the bed. Ben began to panic when he felt handcuffs on his wrists being attached to the headboard. "Stop it!"_

_Jason had already freed himself of his clothes, starting to lower Ben's pants, having every intention of marking Ben his. "It's time I showed you who you belong to..."_

"_**Jason – NO!"**_

Ben shot up from the sofa where he was sleeping (albeit distressingly), body shaking and crying uncontrollably, almost hyperventilating over the trauma.

"Ben..." Gwen walked to her cousin's side, sat next to him and gave him a reassuring hug. "It's alright...you just had a nightmare. You're safe now."

"Then why did that feel so real?"

"I...I don't know..." the redhead answered truthfully. She was not sure of what terrified Ben during his slumber, but from the way Ben screamed Jason's name as he woke, it did not take a genius to figure out who was the source of the nightmare. "Don't worry, Ben..." Gwen whispered in a soothing voice. "Kevin and I are here for you."

"Where is Kevin?" Ben sniffled. "Please say he's not doing anything stupid or dangerous."

"No, nothing like that." Gwen reassured the brunet. "But he should be back in a few minutes." Inwardly, she thought, _'Hopefully he's __**not**__ doing something stupid or dangerous like confronting Jason alone...'_

* * *

"Okay, Kev, this is the best I could do for now." The short brunette woman said to the raven-haired teen. "I got the cell phone carrier to change the number to an unlisted new one and the restraining order is effective immediately."

"Thanks, Tasya. This means a lot." Kevin gave his cousin a grateful, small, smile. "I already talked with Ben's folks and his grandfather. They've set up extra security at the house and got an intergalactic restraining order to go along with the one you set up."

"Has this guy been stalking your friend for long?" Tasya asked.

"No...at least, not yet." Kevin answered truthfully. "But we can't take any chances." He picked up the cell and the restraining order, ready to leave. "Again, thanks for your help, Tasya."

Tasya opened the door for Kevin and hugged him before he walked out. "Take care, Kevin. Hopefully everything works out for your friend."

'_I hope so too.'_ Kevin thought, as he entered his car and drove back to the garage to meet Gwen and see how Ben was coping. As he approached the garage, he stopped to see two familiar figures standing outside. Kevin got out of his car and called out "Hey, Cooper, Charmcaster! What are you doin' here?"

The couple turned around to face Kevin. "Gwen called and told us what happened." Cooper replied, a sombre expression on his face.

"We want to help." Charmcaster added. "After everything Ben's done to help us, we want to help him."

Kevin gave them a nod, to express thanks for their wanting to get involved. As he entered the garage with Cooper and Charmcaster following behind, he saw Gwen trying to shake Ben awake, the brunet thrashing and screaming in his sleep. "What the hell?"

Gwen was scared. "He woke up awhile ago and fell back asleep...He's been screaming like this for some time now but I can't wake him!"

Charmcaster's eyes glowed magenta. "It's Ben's ex-boyfriend!" She exclaimed. "He's psychically stalking and attacking Ben in his sleep!"

"Can you do something to help?" Gwen pleaded.

"Yes." Suddenly, Charmcaster fainted, Cooper catching his girlfriend before she fell to the floor.

"What did she just do?" Kevin yelled.

Gwen looked at the limp form of the silver-haired sorceress. "I...I think she's astral projecting herself into Ben's mind to help him..."

* * *

"Jason! Get away from me!" Ben tried to push his ex-boyfriend away. "It's over between us!"

"Never again, Ben!" Jason snarled. He held a tight painful grip around Ben's waist. "You're mine and there's no way in hell that I'll ever allow you to walk away from me!"

"Last time I checked, people aren't property..."

"Charmcaster?" Ben was shocked to see the reformed villainess.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave..." Jason warned.

"And if you know what's good for you..." Charmcaster gathered mana to her hands, raising them above her head. "You'd know that I don't respond to threats very well, _especially_ when the situation involves a good friend – _**Treest!**_" A blast of energy was released from Charmcaster's hands, quickly knocking Jason away from Ben. As Jason staggered back, Charmcaster quickly grabbed Ben. "Come on, Ben, let's get you out of here!"

* * *

"Ben! Charmcaster!"

Green eyes and purple eyes opened to see concerned faces greeting them with a sigh of relief.

"You gave us a real scare, kid." Kevin said to Ben.

"Never scare me like that again!" Cooper hugged Charmcaster.

"It's not over yet." The sorceress moved next to the xenomorph, placing her hands by his temples, her eyes glowing magenta for the second time that evening. "Considering Jason is tapping into psychic abilities to stalk Ben, we need to place mental safeguards to prevent the attacks from happening again." With an even voice, Charmcaster spoke to Ben. "Ben, there is only so much I can do with the safeguards; I need to rely on you to help me in placing them."

With a shaky sigh, Ben agreed.

* * *

After two hours of levitated meditation, Charmcaster, with Ben's cooperation, placed the mental safeguards to prevent any future psychic attacks. Ben was finally sleeping peacefully while Charmcaster rested; Gwen offered the silver-haired sorceress an ice pack to sooth her head.

"Thanks." Charmcaster pressed the offered ice pack against her forehead. "Psychic safeguards are usually a bitch to perform."

"Kinda like teleportation spells..." Gwen mused. "I can't thank you enough for helping Ben."

"Mmm." Charmcaster hummed. "If it wasn't for Ben, I would have still been trapped in Yawa Tobsic and I wouldn't have met Cooper." Gwen smiled as she saw the softened look in Charmcaster's eyes after saying Cooper's name. "It's the least that I could do."

The girls' conversation was interrupted by the sound of Cooper's Plumber's badge. "Cooper!"

Cooper responded to the call. "Yes, Magister Tennyson?"

"Do you know where Ben is?" Concern was obvious in Max's voice.

"He's here sleeping in my garage." Kevin answered.

Max released a sigh of relief. "Good. Keep him somewhere safe." This was obviously an order. "Jason seems to find ways around the restraining orders." Ben woke up, cringing of hearing his ex-boyfriend's name. Gwen and Charmcaster moved from where they were to comfort the brunet.

"How can he get around earth and intergalactic restraining orders?" Hearing Ben's scared voice, Max realised what a mistake it was to continue this conversation on the Plumber's Network. But the damage was done.

"Ben, I won't lie to you..." Max sighed. "It seems as though Jason tried to break into your home..."

Ben was ready to panic. "Mom and dad..."

"Are fine...but your dog was banged up."

"He hurt Mila?" Gwen tried to calm her cousin; from the time Ben was a kid and got Mila as a puppy, they were almost inseparable.

"Your parents have already sent her to the vet for treatment; she'll be okay." The elderly man said to ease his grandson. "But we need to hide you somewhere safe that Jason doesn't know about."

The young heroes seemed baffled. Where could Ben hide?

Charmcaster cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "I think I know where Ben can hide..."

* * *

_**Author's note:**__ And I'll leave things here...don't kill me for the cliffhanger! XP_

_Sorry for the long delay. I got distracted helping with a fundraising event and major sidetracked by playing Dissidia 012! (Damn that thing's addicting, especially while trying to defeat Feral Chaos!) I'm going to try and push to release a new chapter once a month (Hopefully with less distractions now that it's summer)._

_Hopefully y'all enjoyed this chapter and thanks for being patient! Reviews and constructive criticisms are much appreciated._

_Ciao! XOXO_


	10. Chapter 10: To Train And Protect

_At long last! A new chapter! Stupid computer crash and virus infestation..._

* * *

**Chapter 10: To Train and Protect**

Two sets of green eyes and a set of brown eyes gazed at the modest home that was currently in their sights. "When you suggested we hide Ben at your place, I thought the mansion at the outskirts of Bellwood would be obvious…I was not expecting a quiet place at the outskirts of Bellwood…" Gwen murmured.

"Well," Charmcaster sighed, "Uncle Hex didn't respond well to the concept of my becoming friends with you guys…he especially wasn't keen with my dating Cooper." Kevin smirked and patted Cooper's back, obviously proud of the younger male being considered as '_corruptive'_ by his girlfriend's uncle. "So I came across this place. It's not as extravagant to what I'm used to, but it's home." Charmcaster turned to her guests. "I suggest you head inside so that I can perform the concealment spell."

"Why would we need it?" Kevin quirked an eyebrow. "We're in a suburb; I doubt that ass could find us here."

"Considering Jason's obsession with Ben," Gwen stated, giving Ben a reassuring hug after seeing him shudder over the mention of his ex-boyfriend's name. "I think using the concealment spell as extra protection wouldn't hurt." The redhead led the entourage to the house door, leaving the silver-haired home-owner on the lawn; the anodyte turned her attention to the sorceress. "Do it."

Giving a mild head nod, Charmcaster's eyes began to glow magenta. "Valieris Mihi Occoltus Valieris Meus Amicitia Occoltus!" The silver-haired sorceress' body was emitting a pink magical aura as she began to spin around her home with a pink afterimage trailing behind her; a dome-like shield erected around the place.

"Is that spell goin' to be enough?" Kevin asked, sceptical about the spell's effectiveness.

"Protego Totalum!" Charmcaster stopped her spinning, rejoining her friends. "I'm not done yet." Her eyes glowing again, she chanted, "Caveō Inimīcus!" She released a sigh, trying to calm her body from exerting so much energy from the spell-casting.

"You okay?" Cooper asked, affectionately rubbing her arm.

"Yeah, I'm good." She smiled.

"Good," Kevin said. "C'mon, Coop. Let's head out and get some supplies."

"Would you mind passing by my place and get some stuff for me?" Ben asked.

Kevin looked at the brunette with sympathy. "Yeah, sure."

"While you guys are out," Charmcaster said, "Gwen and I will train Ben with his new powers."

* * *

Ben never knew that learning about his new powers would be so exhausting...especially when the instructors were highly skills sorceresses. Between meditation (the principles of this weren't too hard since he did meditate on his own occasionally) and learning spell incantations, Ben thought his brain might explode. How Gwen and Charmcaster were able to memorise so many spells was beyond him. He almost freaked out after saying "Tempestus Impaetus", which led to lightning flashing from outside through a window and almost striking Gwen. Charmcaster had to counter by chanting "Tempestus Erectum" to conjure a strong wind to block.

"Maybe we should take a break." Charmcaster suggested.

"Good idea." The Tennyson cousins agreed, still freaked out by the accident.

* * *

After picking up provisions (food and ingredients for spells) and dropping them off at Charmcaster's, Kevin and Cooper went to Ben's house. As they were about to knock on the door, Sandra opened it, obviously ready to leave.

"Kevin," Sandra greeted. "How's Ben?"

"He's okay, for now." He honestly answered. "Gwen and Charmcaster are with him. Ben asked me and Cooper to pick up some stuff for him." Sandra nodded in understanding. She thanked the boys for taking care of her son and left, knowing that Kevin should have a copy of the house key and would lock up for her. As the boys walked into the house, they were greeted by barking.

"Well, sounds like somebody's back to her old self." Kevin crouched down as Mila ran up to him. "Nice to see you too, girl."

Cooper crouched down as well to pet the German shepherd. "I can't believe that ass could hurt such a sweet dog just to get to Ben." Kevin only nodded and led Cooper to Ben's room. As he opened the door, what they saw left them shocked and made the dog yelp in fear. The room was filled with several bouquets of roses and lilies. Cooper cringed at the thought of Jason ignoring the restraining orders and sneaking in to place the arrangement without anybody's knowledge as Kevin found a note on Ben's desk. He began to read the letter for Cooper to hear, but started to regret it.

_To The Future Mr. Tennyson-Henning,_

_My dearest Ben. How long as it been that you haven't been in my arms where you rightfully belong? Words cannot express how much I miss the scent of your apple-peach shampoo and the touch of your silky skin… _

_I must admit, I was pissed about your friends keeping us apart with the restraining order but I know that this test of our love will never deter me. I find myself imagining the day we will be wed and how our future offspring will look like…I am certain they will take after 'their mother', darling Ben. _

_You, my Kitten, are my soul mate and nothing will keep me from you._

_Love eternal, Jason_

Kevin and Cooper felt perturbed after reading the letter. It was obvious that Jason was one twisted sick fuck and Ben needed to be protected. _No matter what_.

"Should we tell Ben about this?" Cooper asked. Part of him did not want to tell Ben about the disturbing letter and flowers left in his room, but another part of him believed that Ben had a right to know.

Kevin just grabbed some clothes and shoved them into a bag. He looked towards Ben's dog and called to her, "C'mon, Mila. Let's get you back to Ben." The German shepherd barked and followed the boys out of the house and to the car.

* * *

Charmcaster began to feel unsteady under Ben and Gwen's playful stares as they sat together and ate in the kitchen. "You're starting to creep me out..." She tried to keep her gaze low, focusing on the pint of bubblegum ice cream in her hands.

"Come on, Charmcaster, dish!" Gwen pleaded, taking her fill of chicken wings. "Only one of us here is in a healthy relationship; it gives me and Ben hope!" Ben could only laugh at his cousin, almost choking on the Chow Mein he was eating; her trying to play gossip while her face was messy with barbeque sauce was too funny.

Hearing Ben finally laugh made Charmcaster lose her resolve. If her talking about Cooper could bring a smile to the brunet, then she can't refuse. "What can I say? Cooper's everything anyone could want in a guy." She had a dreamy look in her eyes that made Ben smile and Gwen squeal. "Smart, sweet, attentive..."

"Young." Ben quipped, making Gwen giggle.

"What else could a girl want? Plus he's ten times a man in comparison to my ex."

Ben and Gwen shared a look then stared back at the silver-haired sorceress. Charmcaster took the expression as a nod to describe the jackass. "That ass was a total pig; he acted like God's gift to women, taking advantage of me..." she seethed. "No one knows this except for Cooper, but I was pregnant for that ass until I miscarried..." Ben gasped while Gwen rested her hand on Charmcaster's shoulder out of sympathy. She tried to perk up slightly, "You know what though? I'm glad that I broke up with him when I did; also, I hope that curse I placed on him worked...Michael deserves whatever comes to him, ten-fold!"

"Michael?" Gwen questioned.

"As in – _Michael Morningstar_?" Ben asked.

Charmcaster raised an eyebrow. "Wait...how do you know Michael Morningstar?"

"Gwen dated that arrogant prick briefly before hooking up with Kevin!" Ben exclaimed.

"That ass tried to drain my powers and kill Ben and Kevin!" Gwen seethed. "I'm glad that I regained my senses quickly to get my powers back!"

"Don't forget the power drain weakened him to the point he looked like a zombie."

"Good! My curse worked!"

Gwen huffed slightly. "Who would have ever thought that we would have dated the same jerk?"

"And curse him..." Ben added.

"Let's face it, men are jerks!" Charmcaster exclaimed. Ben gave her a fake indignant look. She giggled uncomfortably. "Umm...present company excluded." Ben smiled; as painful as the memory of her miscarriage was, Charmcaster was glad that she finally had friends to talk to and she was able to help them. This support system has helped her deeply for the last few months, and she was more than happy to give the support back, especially now.

"We're back!" Cooper called out, as he and Kevin returned. As he joined his girlfriend and their friends in the kitchen, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "So, how did training go?"

Charmcaster, Gwen, and Ben shared a look, remembering the lightning incident before they started their break. "Fine." They answered together, even though Cooper could tell, by the way the answered in unison, something was up; he wasn't going to press for details, he'll ask Charmcaster to tell him the truth later...

A barking sound interrupted them; soft steps were heard running towards the kitchen to reveal a German shepherd, jumping near Ben and stretch to lick his face. "Mila!" Ben exclaimed happily, hugging the friendly canine. Kevin finally entered the kitchen, a small smile developing after seeing the dog and her master reunited. "Thank you for bringing her, Kevin." As Ben looked at Kevin, even though he was smiling, Ben knew that Kevin was trying to hide something. "Kevin, what's wrong?"

Gwen and Charmcaster looked at Kevin, curious as to why he seemed hesitant to answer; Charmcaster turned to Cooper, giving her boyfriend an expression as to say '_Tell me the truth_.' Instead, Kevin moved towards Ben, pulling out from his pocket a letter and giving it to him. Ben started to read the letter, shaking as his eyes moved across the paper. He threw the paper down on the table, where Gwen picked it up and read it with Charmcaster. The girls shuttered. "Where did you find this?" Gwen asked.

This was the moment of truth...as much as Kevin didn't want to tell them, it was the right thing to do. "In Ben's room when me and Coop went to pick up his stuff." Kevin sighed wearily. "The room was also filled with several bouquets of flowers." This made everyone in the room freak out. The fact that Jason was violating the restraining orders had the group alarmed. "Ben, I don't know what to say..." Kevin murmured, embracing Ben as a means to comfort him.

Ben didn't say a thing. He didn't know what to say...one thing that he was certain about was that he needed to learn about his new powers quickly. They might be the only thing to save him from Jason's obsessive ways...

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ OMG, finally got this chapter done! At least I stayed true to my word by having it posted within a month..._

_Poor me...my computer crashed when I tried to write this. Stupid motherboard picked the wrong time to keel over! This stupid contraption was in the shop for about a week and a half for a new motherboard to be installed and get detected viruses erased. Lesson #1 about computer purchases, get the extended warranty! It comes in handy for such emergencies (Although it doesn't cover the virus erasing)._

_I think I rushed this chapter a bit...oh well, the story has gotten much longer than my original notes (this was supposed to be a 7-chapter fic!) but I'm having too much fun getting into this. :P Poor Benji and his creepy stalker boyfriend - don't worry, he'll eventually get his (in another chapter, can't say which one...)_

_Reviews and constructive criticisms are much appreciated. ^.^_


	11. Chapter 11: Personal Growth

_Finally! A new chapter! Some humour has been added here to help lighten the morbid mood the last few chapters had._

* * *

**Chapter 11: Personal Growth**

It was surprising at how quickly Ben was learning his new powers. He was levitating five feet off the ground, able to move heavy furniture with telekinesis, go intangible for self-defence, and manipulate solid matter to construct shields.

Today's lesson?

Two female forms were levitated in meditation. A young blond male approached the silver-haired figure, ignoring the redhead, giving a soft brush of lips on a silky cheek. What the young male was not expecting was a telekinetic push across the room. "Charmcaster, what the hell?"

Charmcaster entered the room, several gargantuan spell books floating behind her, and looked at her boyfriend's fallen form on the floor, then turned to face her body double. She began to laugh as she helped Cooper to his feet. "Nice, Ben! You fooled Cooper into thinking you were me."

"Ben?" Cooper turned to where he thought his girlfriend stood, just to see the form shimmer and reveal itself to be Ben. Gwen fell from her meditative position to the floor, laughing at her blond friend's confusion and her cousin's embarrassment.

"Food's here." Kevin announced as he entered the training room. He saw the looks on everyone's face and asked, "What happened here?"

Gwen stuttered as she laughed. "Ben was practicing shape-shifting while meditating and Cooper thought he was Charmcaster, kissed him on the cheek, just to have Ben knock him away with a telekinetic shove!" Charmcaster began to laugh again, causing the infectious laughing from the girls to force Kevin into joining them. Cooper only scowled over his embarrassment while Ben turned several shades of red.

* * *

"I'm telling you that he needs to build on his defensive tactics more!"

"Oh, please! With that stalker after him, he needs to focus his training on offensive attacks!"

Charmcaster and Gwen continued to argue about the direction of Ben's training. Charmcaster thought that Ben should learn more defensive spells, while Gwen wanted to teach him more offensive skills. Kevin and Cooper? They were busy watching the 'cat fight' with much amusement.

"Considering how much your defensive skills _suck_, you should be more willing to help Ben in progressing his own!"

"What did you say? I'm much more proficient in my abilities than you are with yours!"

"Bitch!" Charmcaster yelled furiously. "Tempestus!" Charmcaster conjured a small tidal wave in the training room, knocking Gwen across the room.

"Slut!" Gwen screamed back. "Turbo!" She conjured a strong tornado that caught Charmcaster and spun her around in circles.

"That's enough!" Ben was fed up with his cousin and friend arguing like he was not in the room. "Eradiko!" The redhead and the silver-haired spell casters were wrapped and trapped in a sphere of mana, effectively stopping their fight. "As far as _I'm_ concerned, I need to learn _both_ – offensive _and_ defensive skills in spells and mana. We're a team, so get your act together and apologise to each other." The girls only glared at each other. Ben's eyes glowed pink and he shouted "NOW!" The girls only mumbled their apologies, while Kevin and Cooper straightened up from their laughter during the fight. For an amateur Anodyte, Ben was getting scary.

* * *

"Alright, Benji," Kevin said to the young brunet. "Now that you've managed to escape the bitchin' clucking hens…you need to build up on your hand-to-hand combat skills."

"Actually, I've learned quite a bit from Gwen already." Ben replied, looking at the taller male curiously. "Plus Charmcaster has been teaching me some moves from her realm. It's kinda like chin-na, but fancier."

"Seriously?" Kevin rose an eyebrow. "You've been learning fancy moves that would only make that fucktard want to get his hands on you more?" Ben only made a slight sound, realising that Kevin was right. "You should be learning how to fight dirty!" he grabbed Ben by his hand and dragged him towards the training room.

Ben began to feel hesitant. "Is this such a good idea? I don't want Gwen and Charmcaster mad…"

"Mad for what?" Kevin questioned. "For learning some cheap shots in defending yourself?"

"Mad at _you_ for disregarding their training." Ben replied, holding back a chuckle as Kevin's eyes widened, as realisation dawned on him that the girls might gang up on him and cast a spell in retaliation. "They can be vengeful when need be." He heard Kevin mutter a string of curse words. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll take the blame if they ask…"

Kevin only gave him a small smile and moved into a fighting stance. Ben followed suit. As they began to block each other's strikes, several kicks and punches being delivered but constantly blocked, Kevin eventually got the upper hand by holding Ben in a grip; the smaller teen's back pressed against his chest. "You really need to work on your 'fighting dirty' skills, Tennyson."

"You mean, like this?" Ben mocked, as he lifted his leg high enough to kick Kevin between his eyes until he released his grip. Ben heard a painful moan from Kevin and turned to check on his friend. "Shit! Kevin, I'm so sorry!"

Kevin held the bridge of his nose. "Nah…I had that comin'. But _damn_ you can kick!" He tried to laugh off the pain but it only hurt more. He looked at Ben, who had a depressed look on his face. "Hey! Don't look like that…it was an accident."

"I know." Ben turned his face away. "But…it seems you always get hurt every time you're near me."

Kevin couldn't believe that Ben still harboured guilt about his mutations. _'Will he ever forgive himself about that?' _The raven-haired teen held the brunet's chin to turn his head towards him. "Ben…" Brown eyes met green eyes. "You need to stop feelin' guilty about that." Ben was ready to interject but Kevin gave him a hard stare to shut him up. "Those were accidents. We both know that."

"The last two _accidents_ wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you trying to protect me."

"Yeah," Kevin said, still keeping his hold on Ben. "The accidents happened while trying to protect you. But you know what? I'd do it again in a heart beat if it meant keeping you safe."

Ben was shocked to hear Kevin's confession. _'After causing him to mutate three times and the horrible things I said to him before my relationship with Jason went downhill…he still wants to be around me?'_ He wrapped his arms around the muscular older teen. "Thank you, Kevin." Ben whispered. Kevin was mildly shocked by the small gesture of affection from Ben; after the shock died down, he wrapped his arms around the lithe figure.

They stayed still, arms wrapped around each other, the quietness of room as their only company. As they finally pulled apart, brown and green eyes met again; their eyes closed as lips began to gravitate together. The lips almost touched, when a slight sound was heard by the doorway of the room. Ben became flustered and pulled back, turning to face his cousin. Gwen had an expression that somehow crossed between amused and stunned.

Gwen cleared her throat, looking directly at Ben. "Charmcaster is waiting for you in the backyard to go over offensive attacks and spells." Ben nodded at her and ran out of the room to head outside.

Gwen turned her attention towards Kevin; part of her wanted to chastise him for making a move on a _very_ vulnerable Ben, yet at the same time another part of her wanted to cheer him on for being the support that Ben needed right now. Kevin glared back; his expression was clear – _'Damn, bitch! Why'd you have to interrupt me and Ben?'_

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Damn Gwen for ruining a fluffy moment between Kevin and Ben…_

_Well, my computer's in the shop – again (I should save some cash to invest in a MAC) – and the stupid local library has a block on this website for containing "mature content". Anyway, this chapter is up, so __**all's right in the world**__ – for now! I'm trying to get some notes ready for chapter 12 I'm not 100% sure of where it will lead to, but I will try to make it satisfactory for everyone._

_Until next time, dear readers! Remember to review to feed my muses ^.^ and wish me luck with my problematic beast of a computer to work so that these chapters keep coming to ya! ;)_


	12. Chapter 12: Second Chance At Love

_Here we are, sweethearts – a new chapter!_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Second Chance At Love**

How can a look display pride and jealousy at the same time?

Within a short period of time, Ben has learned many skills in his Anodyte powers; enough to make Gwen and Charmcaster proud of him, yet jealous that he has learned and became quite skilled in some spells that took them a long time to master.

"**Tempestus Erectum!**"

"Okay, your cousin kinda scares me…" Charmcaster whispered to Gwen while they were sparring with Ben one evening. The current spell he chanted knocked both girls at the far end of the room. "It took me two weeks to master the full-strength of that spell. Ben managed to do it in two days…"

"It took me almost a month…" Gwen whispered back. "And you call _me_ an idiot savant."

"Defensive shield now, talk later!" Charmcaster hollered as she saw Ben ready to summon an energy blast. "**Vortress Nebulae!**" She was able to conjure an energy force field to deflect Ben's attack back towards him. Gwen was about to stop the attack, worried that the blast might hurt Ben, but he surprised both girls by developing a mass of mana by his hands that absorbed the attack and dissipated into the air.

"It's official…" Gwen whispered to herself. "My cousin _really_ does not live by his full potential."

* * *

"And I thought Ben being jaded was a foreign concept…" Cooper whispered to the others. The young heroes watched Ben sit in the living room, staring out of the window with a sad expression, absent-mindedly petting Mila's head, as the German shepherd tried to get her master's attention to play.

Charmcaster nodded her head. "I'm accustomed to seeing Ben more…upbeat and hopeful…"

"He's feeling caged in." Gwen responded. Seeing the form in front of them, Gwen had to agree with her friends; by keeping Ben safe from Jason at Charmcaster's, he's losing a part of his personality – the part that loved life and that love used to be infectious to all around him. "He's becoming literally a bird in a gilded cage."

Kevin got fed up of the talking. He walked towards the brunet and tapped his shoulder. "C'mon, Tennyson." Kevin grabbed Ben's hand and pulled him to his feet. "It's about time we took you out somewhere fun."

"But what about –" Cooper was about interject, knowing that Ben's ex-boyfriend would be waiting for him.

"You've basically mastered shape-shifting, right?" the raven-haired teen asked the brunet.

"Well, yeah…" came the unsteady response.

"Good." Kevin smirked. The expression he had told everyone that it's best not to argue with the ex-con.

The girls sighed. They grabbed Ben away from Kevin and headed towards the hallway. "Give us fifteen minutes to get ready." Charmcaster said. "You two," she pointed to Cooper and Kevin. "Should get some disguises."

Ben looked confused. Gwen gave him a kind-hearted smile. "If we're going to enjoy a day out, we should all have the proper disguises to go unnoticed in public." After hearing the words _'enjoy a day out'_, Ben smiled at his friends, happiness reflected in his green eyes.

* * *

Green eyes faltered while walking in the crowd. "Are you sure about this?"

A tall dark-haired male laughed. "Of course we're sure! Would I steer you wrong?"

Another set of green eyes danced with mischief, an eyebrow lifted in a questionable, yet playful manner. "Should we really answer that?" The question caused the accompanying teens to laugh.

After settling their disguises while at Charmcaster's place, the five teens found themselves at the Amusement Pier for a day of relaxation. Kevin and Cooper had adjusted ID masks to change their appearances. Cooper's disguise consisted of changing his hair colour to auburn and had less muscle mass with ripped darn jeans and an ivory-coloured dress shirt. Meanwhile, Kevin's hair appeared longer and pushed into a ponytail and his skin more tanned; the muscular teen now donning acid-washed jeans, a grey t-shirt and a dark blue jacket.

The smaller teens' had a few boys at the pier drooling, causing Kevin and Cooper to act like overprotective (jealous) guards, much to Gwen's, Charmcaster's and Ben's amusement. Charmcaster's long silver tresses were replaced with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair with brown low-lights and her eyes appeared grey; she wore a simple white knee-length dress that still made her look stunning. Gwen was a little more conventional with her disguise, deciding not to use a shape-shifting spell; she darkened her normally red hair to brown that fell in soft waves, covered her green eyes with a pair of sunglasses, and sported a fuchsia tank top with black slacks and a black fedora hat.

The true transformation was Ben's shape-shifting. The lithe male now appeared to the public as a petite brunette, almost looking like Gwen's twin; his short brown hair now curled down to reach his shoulder blades, his eyes appearing more acidic than their usual emerald colour. The brunette was wearing a burgundy top with black shorts that was accentuating an athletic form, causing many males at the pier to gawk which resulted in many of them being slapped by their girlfriends and getting a protective snarl from Kevin.

As the five teens continued to hang out at the pier ― Kevin having an almost crazed, yet ecstatic, expression at the shooting range as he won a large green teddy bear for Ben — something appeared quite obvious to Charmcaster... "Hey, Kieran and Bella!" The young sorceress called out to her friends using their pseudonyms for the day. "Corey, Giselle and I are going to hang out at the arcade!"

Kevin only grunted, preoccupied at shooting the fake ducks in front of him, as Ben turned to his retreating friends. "Okay, Caroline." Ben responded by using Charmcaster's alias. "We'll meet up at The Salty Dog Café in an hour."

* * *

Charmcaster lead Cooper and Gwen away from Ben and Kevin and towards the arcade, puzzling her companions. "What was that about?" Cooper asked.

"You haven't realised it?" Charmcaster asked, astonished that the highly intelligent young Plumbers didn't clue in on the interaction between the osmosian and xenomorph. Gwen seemed to have picked up on the connotation. "It's obvious that those two are now on a date; we're just an unnecessary crowd!"

"Ke―" Cooper caught himself before revealing their true identities. "I mean...Kieran and Bella? Nah! You're imagining things."

"Now that _Caroline_ mentioned it, _Corey_," Gwen mused as they entered the arcade. "The way _Kieran_ has been giving guys that have been ogling _Bella_ murderous glares and the way he gave _her_ his jacket when _she_ mentioned that she felt cold..."

"See?" Charmcaster gloated. "That's the sort of thing people do on dates." Cooper and Gwen were speechless. Kevin having a romantic interest in Ben was shocking, but Gwen knew that it would only be a matter of time until Ben started reciprocating those feelings; after all, it was only a few weeks ago that she interrupted them almost kissing! Being the only single person on the team started to make Gwen feel inadequate and undesirable. Charmcaster seemed to pick up on her new best friend's reservations and wanted to cheer her up. "Don't worry, _Giselle_..." Charmcaster rested her hand on Gwen's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "When you least expect it, that's when _Mister Right_ will fall in your lap."

Gwen returned a sincere smile to the kind words. It surprised her at how well she and Charmcaster got along. _'Especially considering she once wanted me dead...'_ Gwen mused. Then again, since her friendship with Julie ended when the bitch made the mistake of cheating on Ben, which now led him to the problems with Jason, Gwen missed having a reliable female friend that she could relate to; Charmcaster seemed to have filled that role.

"Gw―" Cooper caught himself again for slipping with the alias. "_Giselle!_"

Gwen wasn't paying attention, too busy with her musings. The poor anodyte walked into someone, both falling on the floor of the arcade. She quickly got up from the lap of the dark-skinned male wearing a t-shirt, blue pants with a matching head band that was partially covering his corn-rowed black hair.

"Holy shit!" Gwen squeaked. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Don't sweat it." The boy responded. "I wasn't paying attention either."

"I just feel so stupid." Gwen muttered.

"How 'bout you join me for coffee and we can compare how stupid we are together?" He offered his hand to shake. "The name's Marcus..."

Gwen couldn't bring herself to speak. She felt like an idiot for not saying anything but managed to take Marcus' hand to shake. She felt a slight numbness in the back of her mind, a telepathic message that had a teasing one. _'Okay I was off about Mister Right falling in your lap since you fell into his, but I was right that you would meet someone!'_ Gwen turned to her new best friend, gave her a cheerful grin then turned her attention back to her potential new romance.

* * *

"You do realise that we need to meet the other by The Salty Dog Café in 20 minutes, right?" Ben asked Kevin as they stood in line for the Ferris wheel.

"Don't worry, _Bella_," Kevin teased Ben, placing an arm around the lithe figure's shoulders. "It's our turn next. We'll meet them with plenty of time to spare."

True to his word, Kevin was right about them being next. Ben handed the bear that Kevin won for him to the Ferris wheel attendant and took a seat next to Kevin. As other people got on the ride, there was an awkward silence between the two. It was obvious that there was a mutual attraction but both teens were stubborn to say anything to the other. The ride continued, both boys trying to figure how to tell the other the words to express how the other felt. Just as they finally worked the nerve to say something, the Ferris wheel stopped suddenly.

"Did the ride malfunction?" Ben questioned.

Kevin quirked an eyebrow. "It's possible. I wonder if I can do somethin' about it from here..."

Normally Ben would have given Kevin the go-ahead, but the purpose of this outing was to stay inconspicuous. "_Kieran_, don't..."

They heard some commotion from the seat behind them ― technically above them, considering their position on the Ferris wheel ― where a young couple seemed to have a conversation that made their awkward silence come across as being normal.

"Adrienne, will you marry me?"

"Dear God, Matt, _**no**_!"

"Poor dude." Kevin muttered.

Ben just averted his eyes to the side. "You can say that again."

Kevin nudged Ben to get his attention and smirked. "Poor dude."

Ben couldn't help but laugh at the muscled teen's lame attempt at humour. "Look, Kevin," Ben dropped his voice to a whisper, tired of constantly using an alias. "Things have been strained between us, especially I...you know..." Ben's eyes flickered to a sense of darkness, remembering his bad relationship with Jason.

"Ben," Kevin whispered back, also tired of the use of aliases. "No matter what, I'm here for you..."

They looked into each other's eyes. Despite the disguises, they were able to read the other's emotions; they figured they could blame it on the romantic view being stuck on the Ferris wheel. As they leaned forward, lips almost meeting, they felt the Ferris wheel shake.

"_**BEN!**_"

Ben pulled away from Kevin to see a livid Jason levitating in front of them.

"Jason?"

Before Ben or Kevin could react, Jason grabbed Ben. "Damn bitch!" Jason snarled. "You think you can walk away from me?"

Ben felt scared but realised that he couldn't let his fear control him. His eyes glowed pink as his hands glowed and sent a painful charge of energy into Jason's body, forcing the abusive older male to release his captive.

"Ben!" Kevin shouted as he absorbed the metal properties of the ride and quickly scaled down to the ground. As he reached the concrete, he returned to his normal form to catch Ben as he returned to his natural appearance. "You okay?" He asked, not letting the brunet go.

"I'm fine but we need to contact the others."

"We're already here!" Gwen called out as she, Charmcaster and Cooper ran to where they stood.

"Jason is dangerous, so we need to fight smart to avoid hurting the innocent people here." Ben said in an even tone. Gwen released a relieved sigh, hearing the old Ben after so long. She chanted a spell to get the trapped people off the Ferris wheel to the ground safely where they ran in a frenzy, trying to get away from the potentially hazardous situation. Cooper took the opportunity to use the available metal to form a suit of armour. He ran towards Jason, extending a metallic limb that shot projectiles at him, effectively knocking him to the ground.

"You think a few scraps will stop me?" Jason muttered in a threatening manner. "_**Nothing**_ will keep me from Ben ― _**never again!**_" Reddish-orange energy surrounded Jason, electricity crackling aggressively; he pointed a hand at Cooper and blasted him with a strong force of cosna.

"Cooper!" Charmcaster shouted as her boyfriend's protective shield shattered and he laid on the ground unconscious. "You are _so_ dead for hurting him!" As Charmcaster radiated energy for her attack, it was obvious that she was filled with rage because her boyfriend was injured. "**Kellecki Rock!**" The concrete underneath Jason formed into spikes causing him to be thrown into the air. "**Tempestus Impaetus!**" He was then struck by a lightning bolt.

Everyone in the area thought that the attack would have knocked out the villainous male for good; that as not the case. "That's all you got?" Jason mocked. "You need to do better than that." He summoned another wave of cosna, ready to attack Charmcaster, but he felt an invisible pull keeping him back from his target. "What the fuck?" He turned his attention to his obsession, seeing Ben holding hands with Gwen as they mentally conjured a spell to keep him immobilised.

"That's hot spellcasters for ya." Kevin mocked, absorbing the concrete ground of the pier. "Ya never know what they have up their sleeves." He managed to deliver a series of powerful punches and kicks on Jason, who was severely pissed at the betrayal by Ben's hands.

"I've had enough of this." The devrajian bellowed. He managed to shake off the spell from Ben and Gwen, so that he could blast Kevin with an attack of his own. "Ben, enough of this shit! You're leaving with me right now!"

"Think again, ass-wipe." Gwen sneered. "You'll never lay another hand on Ben again!" Without thinking, she conjured a vortex that whisked Jason away. The last thing the young heroes heard was something to the effect that he would come back; but that was the last of their worries, for the injured Cooper and Kevin needed to be treated.

While Charmcaster checked Cooper's abrasions and Ben did the same for Kevin, Gwen felt a light tap on her shoulder; she turned to see Marcus, who had shock and fear written on his face.

"So, you're..." Marcus started.

"I'm actually Gwen..." she turned her attention to Ben. "I'm sure you recognise my cousin."

"Ben Tennyson...alien superhero..." Marcus finished. "And that guy you fought?"

"Ben's ex-boyfriend who refuses to move on." Came her steady reply. "I guess after this, you don't want anything to do with me." Gwen started to walk towards her friends, until she felt a firm yet gentle grip on her arm.

"I'll admit that I'm a little freaked out after seeing what I saw just now." The dark-skinned teen confessed. "But, this is a part of who you are and from what I just saw; you're one hell of a girl, Gwen Tennyson."

"So, you're..." Gwen looked at Marcus with hopeful eyes.

"I'm still looking forward to that coffee, Gwen." Marcus smiled at her.

She nodded her head and smiled before running to her friends to teleport them home.

* * *

Cooper sighed. "Charmcaster, I'm fine." The blond was sitting at the dining table with a compress on one of his injuries.

Charmcaster continued to dote on him. "That gash across your jaw and the bruising to your arms say otherwise."

"Enjoy the mother hen act while you can, Coop." Kevin joked as Ben rested an ice pack on his knee. "Who knows when this kind of treatment will ever happen again?" Ben playfully smacked Kevin's stomach, withdrawing a painful hiss from the osmosian. To keep himself distracted from the mild pain, he turned his attention to Gwen, who had a distant dreamy look in her eyes. "So Gwen, when were you gonna tell us about —" Ben smacked Kevin again, a way of telling him to not pry in Gwen's private life, especially after seeing the blush that developed on the young anodyte's face quickly.

"It's getting late." Gwen quickly got up from where she was sitting and headed towards the hallway. "I'm calling it a night."

"Same here." Charmcaster helped Cooper to his feet and aided him towards the stairs.

Ben and Kevin were now left alone in the kitchen.

"I'm beginning to think I'm jinxed." Ben muttered, looking down at the ceramic-tiled floor.

Kevin grunted. "Bullshit. It's not your fault that _that ass_ can't get a hint and leave you alone."

"Kevin, you got hurt tonight trying to help me, _again_. I must have some sort of curse that puts my friends in danger!"

"You think a few bruises are gonna stop me from looking out for you?" Kevin gripped Ben's chin and turned his head so that brown eyes could look into green eyes. "Like I said before: I would do whatever it takes, in a heartbeat, to keep you safe."

For the umpteenth time since taking up temporary residence at Charmcaster's, the two boys shared a longing gaze. They weren't sure who made the first move, but they didn't care. Thin lips caressed full lips. This was it —this shared soft and innocent kiss was what they were searching for ― real love.

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__ Wow...I haven't written this much since chapters 4 and 6!_

_Well, Gwen found someone new. Hopefully this one is a keeper..._

_And Ben and Kevin finally have their first kiss! After so many interruptions (damn Gwen last chapter and &!$ Jason for interrupting during the mid-point of this chappie!) our favourite male heroes finally show their true feelings for each other. Viva Bevin!_

_Don't forget to review...keep my muses happy! XOXO_


	13. Chapter 13: Abduction

_Ok, I'm not dead...I just had a major kick$$ case of writer's block. I finally got my groove back, so let the story continue!_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Abduction**

Two sets of brown eyes locked onto each other at the breakfast table; one set stern but ready to break while the other looked pleading and hungry. "Stop giving me those eyes, mutt." Kevin mumbled at the German shepherd. "C'mon, Mila, you know Tennyson doesn't want you to eat this type of stuff." He continued as he nibbled on a slice of bacon. The dog continued to whine at Kevin, nudging her nose on his leg, then raising a paw to tap his knee. "Damnit!" Kevin caved at Mila's manipulative cute ways. "What Ben doesn't know can't hurt us, right?" Mila gave an appreciative bark and wagged her tail happily.

"Kevin! Mila!" Ben shouted just as Kevin leaned forward to give Mila a slice of bacon. Both looked guilty. Ben grabbed the dog's spiky collar and led her to a corner in the kitchen. "Mila, bad dog!" Ben chastised. "You know better than to beg at the table for food and you are not allowed to eat such unhealthy junk!" Kevin tried to use this opportunity to sneak out of the kitchen. "And you!" Unfortunately for the osmosian, he got caught. "How many times do I have to tell you not to give Mila unhealthy treats, especially since the vet has her on a strict diet!" As Kevin gave a guilty smirk to Ben and was ready to make up an excuse, the young hero cut him off. "Don't try to bullshit me, Kev." He crossed his arms. "Sometimes I wonder why I put up with your crap..."

Kevin tried to wiggle his eyebrows. "Because I have roguish charm..."

Green eyes narrowed. "Only Gwen fell for that."

"And...I'm totally awesome?" He gave a goofy grin.

Ben rolled his eyes and smiled. "You're such a goof." He leaned up to press a kiss on Kevin's cheek.

"Enough PDA, you two." Gwen muttered as she entered the kitchen, eyes glued to her cell phone. She walked towards the fridge, finally allowing her eyes to move from the small electronic device to raid it for its content.

"Another text from Marcus?" Ben asked.

"Uh huh..." Gwen hummed as she pulled out some orange juice.

Kevin chuckled. "Who would've ever thought Gwenny would catch Jungle Fever?" Ben elbowed the brute's stomach, which led to a painful grunt on Kevin's part.

"Whatever, Kevin." Gwen muttered. "It's not like I can just up and leave to go out with him."

Ben felt guilty that his cousin had given up her social life to protect him. "Um, Gwen?" The brunet said, getting the redhead's attention. "Could I see your phone for a sec?" When she cocked an eyebrow at him, he took the device from her and sent a quick text. "There! That should do it."

The anodyte glared at the xenomorph warily. "Ben, what did you just do?"

Ben gave Gwen a mischievous smirk. "I wrote for Marcus to meet you at Mr. Smoothie at six tonight."

"You what?" Gwen screeched; Kevin laughed at the whole thing. '_Oh yeah, Benji is back!_'

"You gave up a lot to help me, Gwen." Ben smiled sincerely. "I want to make it up to you."

Gwen couldn't believe it. Ben Tennyson – the cocky, immature son-of-a-bitch (granted he'd been a timid lamb for the last few months – for obvious reasons), was playing _match-maker_...for her? At that moment, Gwen kept opening and shutting her mouth, not sure of what to say...wondering if she should hug Ben or strangle him.

"Well? What are you standing around for?" Ben pushed Gwen out of the Kitchen. "It's Saturday morning and you have 8 hours to get ready for your date!" Gwen glared at Kevin as he made kissy noises from his place in the room, then softened her expression as she looked at her cousin. "If you're worried about me, don't sweat it!" The brunet grinned. "Kevin's around to look after me. And don't count out Cooper and Charmcaster..."

"Are you sure?" The redhead was sceptical.

Ben smiled even brighter. "Seriously, Gwen. Go and enjoy yourself."

Gwen quickly hugged Ben and took off to get ready. "What the hell am I going to wear?

* * *

"Wow, Gwen, you look amazing!" Charmcaster complimented Gwen when she finally emerged from her temporary room wearing a short black dress with flat shoes and a green cardigan. Her normally straight hair was curled, framing her face. As simple as the ensemble was, Gwen looked radiant.

"Wait a minute..." Ben stared hard at Gwen. Isn't that _my_ sweater?"

"Oh, look at the time!" Gwen giggled nervously. "See ya!" Before Ben could say anything more, Gwen teleported away, leaving Charmcaster, Cooper and Kevin laughing.

"I swear it's like that girl is taking over my wardrobe..." Ben muttered.

"Oh, come on, Ben..." Charmcaster still giggled. "What's a sweater in comparison to Gwen's happiness?"

Ben wasn't ready to argue with that fact. He simply sighed and turned to his companions. "So, what are _our_ plans for the night?"

"Well..." Charmcaster started. "Cooper was telling me about some comic book called _Batman_..." Kevin released an appreciated whistle. "...and some movies based on it. So I went online and came across one of the movies to download." She walked towards the bookshelf in the living room and pulled out a disk to insert it in the DVD player. "I didn't know there were thirty movies out."

"Thirty?" Cooper looked puzzled. '_Since when were there thirty Batman movies?_' He thought. '_Not even the old serials from the 60s would add up to thirty movies._' He shared a look with Kevin and Ben, who only shrugged their shoulders, confused about the movie. They sat on the sofa and waited for Charmcaster to join them after starting the film.

As the movie started Ben, Kevin and Cooper thought that it was odd that this particular Batman movie resembled the 1960s show. The plot began with Dick Grayson (Robin) playing chess with Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Bruce's bimbo of the week whining about being ignored. It seemed kinda campy with the lame dialogue, but the words were off...almost suggestive. As the movie continued, the boys thought that it was odd that, of all the villains from the original Batman series, The Riddler would be lurking around the corner of the hallway, waiting to kidnap the bimbo, in a very suggestively tight costume. Then the line that shocked everyone was said by The Riddler: "_Riddle me this, Miss Carson. What is the difference between you and Bruce Wayne's bank account? There is no difference, you both peak his interest."_

"Oh, my God..." Ben whispered as he covered his mouth and blushed. Kevin tried to conceal his laughter but failed.

"Umm...Charm..." Cooper tried to clear his throat. "This isn't a real Batman movie; you downloaded porn."

The silver-haired sorceress turned red in embarrassment and covered her face with her hands. "I am such an idiot!"

While Kevin continued to laugh, Ben elbowed him before stopping the DVD. "You're not an idiot..." the brunet tried to reassure his friend. "You're not used to the history of the comic and the affiliating crap with it." He offered his signature '_Sweet Ben Tennyson Smile'_ to cheer her up. "Now this guy here..." he pointed to Kevin. "Is King of Idiots."

"Hey!" Kevin grunted from the insult, finally stopped laughing. "I _do not_ do idiotic things!"

"Oh, yeah?" Ben challenged. "What about that time you –"

"Charmcaster, why don't you alter you appearance and teleport to the video store and rent somethin' where you can see what you're selecting?" Kevin suggested, trying to change the subject.

"What store?" Charmcaster questioned. "With Netflicks and whatever other online movie rental sites, video stores have become obsolete." She turned her attention to Ben. "You're right...he's an idiot." Ben couldn't help but laugh as Kevin huffed.

"Anyway, why bother rent or download movies?" Ben said, as he squinted his eyes to see Charmcaster's some videos near the entertainment unit. "It looks like you have good selection already."

"Anything interesting?" Cooper asked.

"Yeah," Ben answered. He began to list the titles that he saw. "_Bad Teacher_, _Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon_, _Green Lantern_, _Captain America_, _Crazy, Stupid, Love_..."

Kevin leaned forward to check some of the titles himself. "Sweet! Scream 4!"

"We're watching Bad Teacher." Ben crossed his arms and glared at Kevin.

Kevin scoffed. "That's such a chick flick." Ben narrowed his eyes menacingly at the implication of those words. "Right, Coop? The horror flick is much better."

Cooper glanced at Kevin and turn his attention to Charmcaster. Her face was unreadable but Cooper saw something in her eyes. "BAD TEACHER." He said, earning a kiss on the cheek by his girlfriend. As Kevin glared at Cooper, Cooper eyed back an expression that said '_Look at my girlfriend; I'd be a dumb fuck to go against her._' Kevin let the subject slide as Ben used his new power of telekinesis to levitate the movie to the DVD player.

"About time one of you slips up…" The voice made the young heroes jump from their seats and turn to view the intruder.

"Jason?" Ben screamed. "How the hell did you find us? How did you get in here?"

"Simple, Kitten…" Jason smiled wickedly as he saw Ben flinch at the old pet name. "I made you and your loser friends think you had an upper hand during our last fight." Kevin ran forward to attack, but Jason tossed him aside with a light charge of cosna in his hand. "It was an easy trap with basic know-how of trans-dimensional spells." As he was about to move closer to Ben, the brunet overturned the sofa to knock Jason back. The devrajian simple shook it off like it was dust. "First, I leave part of my essence on you when I grabbed you from the Ferris wheel at the Amusement Pier; then I purposely take hits from your silver-haired friend and allow myself to get sucked in by your cousin's weak dimensional vortex to get their energy signatures as a beacon for your hideout."

Charmcaster was pissed; she muttered "**Tempestus**" to summon a concentrated hurricane around Jason as a way to contain him. He charged enough power around himself to act as a shield; the cosna at his command was able to dissipate the water with ease.

"All it took was some patience for a teleportation spell, obviously by the currently missing annoying redhead, and a slight use of any power to lock in your location." Jason bragged. "Now, Ben, you're coming with me!"

"Think again, ass wipe!" Kevin yelled as he absorbed the properties of a wall. He charged after Jason again, this time successful holding him in a headlock.

"**Descendo!**" Ben chanted, forcing Jason's feet to sink into the floor.

"Charm," Cooper looked at Charmcaster apologetically as the DVD player morphed shape as it approached him. "I owe you a new DVD player." The devise transformed into a laser gun and Cooper lacked hesitation to shoot Jason.

"Watch your aim, Coop!" Kevin shouted as a laser barely grazed him.

"**Silicus Milez Sositatio!**" Charmcaster chanted to summon two of her rock monsters; she then gave Kevin an annoyed glare. "Then get out of way! Ben already locked him to the floor!"

"Enough of this!" Jason grabbed Kevin by his arm and threw him into a rock monster, effectively knocking out the osmosian. "You cannot win!" He propelled his power at the other rock monster, knowing out Cooper and slamming Charmcaster against the bookcase.

Seeing his closest friends hurt, Ben was enraged. "**Impedimenta!**" The spell succeeded in encasing Jason in ice, but it did not last long. He shouted another spell: "**Waddiwasi!**" Most of the books, lamps and cushions in the room were pelting Jason, but again, he shook them off. Ben generated a mass of energy above Jason's head and slammed it on him. Just as the energy dissipated, Ben saw that his ex-boyfriend wasn't moving. Sighing in relief, he moved to check on Kevin and felt a pinch at the base of his neck, rendering him unconscious.

As Ben was about to hit the floor, strong arms grabbed him and held him bridal-style. "Like I said before, Ben…" Jason smirked evilly as he conjured mist to teleport himself and his captive away. "_**You. Are. Mine!**_"


	14. Chapter 14: Breakdown

_Well, here we are...another instalment involving guilt, psychotic behaviour and a surprise ending – to the chapter...not the story!_

_Special thanks to DreamsofPurpleRoses for sparking part of the idea for this chapter in her last review._

* * *

**Chapter 14: Breakdown**

For the first time in months, Gwen felt like she was on cloud 9. It's been so long since the last time she's been on a date that she almost forgot how to have fun.

Gwen began to hum to herself as she teleported back to Charmcaster's place, feeling giddy after the walk by the beach that followed dinner at a café. As she stepped foot into the house, something felt...off. She didn't know what it was but the atmosphere was malevolent.

"Ben?" She called out, hoping that her cousin would reply. Then she decided to call out to the others. But hearing nothing, Gwen had a dreadful feeling. Finally finding her way to the living room, the sight stopped her cold. Kevin and Cooper were left unconscious. She checked their pulses, thankful that they were still alive, but hurt slightly. Not seeing Ben and Charmcaster had her still worried though.

After hearing a groan, Gwen moved towards the remains ofthe grunts, carefully lifting the piles of rock with her powers until she found the silver-haired sorceress. Sensing something off about Charmcaster's aura, Gwen made a snap decision; Charmcaster needed medical attention – _**now**_!

Trying to cool her nerves as much as possible, knowing that Ben might be in danger, Gwen needed to care for her injured teammates, especially her best friend.

* * *

Jason had a sinister smile as he watched the unconscious Ben rest in his – _their_ – new home. The sleeping brunet looked so innocent sleeping on the silk sheets covering the king-sized bed in the master bedroom. It may have been brash to sell his previous home, but he thought it was well worth it to keep Bellwood at a distance as he planned his future with Ben.

"Time to wake up, Kitten." The older teen cooed, trying to rouse the sleeping brunet. When Ben did not respond, Jason sighed and moved to the far end of the room where a silk dress-shirt and matching wide-leg pants were draped on a mannequin. "I can't wait to see you in this on our wedding day." The evil teen sighed as his fingers lightly traced the intricate silver embroidery on the shirt's collar. "Although I think you'd look stunning in a wedding gown, but I doubt you'd be pleased about it." He moved back to Ben's sleeping form, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. "Hmph." Jason smirked. "At least I now know you're a deep sleeper." Resting a hand on Ben's pale cheek, Jason lowered his head to rest a possessive short loving kiss against the soft full lips of his obsession. "Once you're awake, Ben, and you finally agree to marry me...that pathetic life in Bellwood – and that loser Kevin – will be ancient history."

* * *

"Could you kids stop pacing?" Max growled in frustration, watching Gwen, Kevin, and Cooper pace the waiting room in the local hospital. The three teens were on edge; with Ben missing (who knows what Jason was trying with him now) and Charmcaster's condition being uncertain, the young heroes didn't know what to do with themselves. Soon enough, Gwen began to break, sobbing uncontrollably. Max moved from his seat to console his granddaughter. "It's going to be okay, Pumpkin..." He whispered. "Charmcaster will be okay and we'll find Ben."

"**No!** **It's not going to be okay!**" She screamed. "If I didn't go out, Jason wouldn't have been able to kidnap Ben and Charmcaster wouldn't be here hurt!" Her body shook as guilt plagued her mind for not being available to help her cousin and friends when they needed her.

"Gwen, stop blaming yourself." Kevin grabbed Gwen's shoulder to get her attention.

"Ben told you to have fun tonight." Cooper added.

"So you're blaming this on Ben?" came Gwen's livid reply. Her tearful eyes glowed magenta with anger.

"_**NO!**_" The boys yelled. Their next choice of words had to be tactful. It was bad enough that Gwen blamed herself for recent events; they didn't need her to completely lose her mind either.

"I believe that what the boys are trying to say," Max interjected on their behalf, "is that no one could predict this happening." Kevin and Cooper nodded in agreement, seeing that Max was succeeding in calming Gwen. "Right now, we just need to make sure that Charmcaster is alright before searching for Ben; he is a fighter and could hold his own with his new powers until we can find him."

Just as Gwen was calming down, a doctor finally joined them in the waiting room. "Are any of you next of kin?"

Everyone paled. "I'm her boyfriend." Cooper responded, dreading the worst to come. "Her only living relative isn't on speaking terms with her."

The doctor focused his attention on Cooper. "Well, if your friend," he pointed at Gwen, "didn't arrive when she did, this would have been bad news." The teens released a breath that they didn't realise they all held, relieved that the silver-haired sorceress was okay. "For a moment, there was a bit of touch-and-go, but luckily someone wasn't ready to give up."

"Can we see her, doctor?" Max asked the question that Cooper, Gwen and Kevin couldn't express as yet.

"I would suggest one person at a time, starting with you, young man." The doctor addressed Cooper again. "In this girl's current condition and your being her boyfriend, she would much appreciate it."

"I suppose after a near-death experience, Cooper would be the logical choice of first visitor." Gwen wiped her eyes, half-relieved that some of her worry and guilt was alleviated.

"What do you mean by _current condition_?" Cooper asked, having a nagging feeling about Charmcaster's health.

"Your girlfriend survived a violent assault." The doctor stated calmly. "She is a lucky girl. Her injuries are minor but it's natural for you to be concerned." He smiled at Cooper. "It wouldn't be too unusual for a soon-to-be father to worry."

Max, Kevin and Gwen looked at Cooper, shocked. Their shocked expressions paled in comparison to Cooper's. He stood there, ready to faint. '_Charmcaster is pregnant?_'

* * *

_I think I'll end it here..._

_Yep, Charmcaster's pregnant with Cooper's kid. The next chapter will focus on the discovery of this bundle of joy. And there will be more psycho Jason in the mix too._

_There should be at least another 2 or 3 (if you're lucky, maybe 4) chapters left to this fic. I'm trying to plan the storyline right to end it properly (avoiding clichés). It depends on my mood._

_Special thanks to all who reviewed and marked this little story on their favourite lists. Merci beaucoup! _


	15. Chapter 15: New Life

_Alrighty now...this chapter is more Cooper/Charmcaster based, focusing on the recent pregnancy._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Chapter 15: New Life**

Pale hands covered the face of a confused and scared magic-wielder.

Charmcaster knew that she felt weird after her "private moment" with Cooper after the group's trip to the Amusement Pier but ignored it, thinking her emotions were adjusting to the concept of being in a loving relationship and finally having friends. She would never have guessed that she was pregnant – and because of her miscarriage a few years ago – she was terrified about the possibility of losing another baby.

"Charmcaster?"

She looked up from her hands to stare at Cooper, scared of his reaction to the news. '_Probably just as scared as I am right now..._' She thought. "Before you say anything, Cooper, I _**really**_ didn't know that I was pregnant until now..."

Cooper smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "I don't doubt that." He replied honestly. "I'm just glad that you're okay." He sat at the edge of the bed and took his girlfriend's hand. "It's amazing how much we've been through for such a short period of time, considering what we know about each other."

Charmcaster leaned forward to hug Cooper, lightly biting her lip. She knew what Cooper said was true; she knew that Cooper was once overweight and (still) was shy when it came to interacting with girls. She also knew that his grandfather was a retired Plumber. Besides this, she knew nothing about his parents or if he had any siblings or how extensive his family was.

The same could be said about herself. The only facts that she truthfully mentioned to Cooper was that he father's name was Spellbounder and he died trying to help her and her uncle Hex to escape Yawa Tobsic. He also knew of her miscarriage; but she never spoke about the fact that her mother died shortly after she was born. Thinking about the fact that she knew almost nothing about her mother except for one fact made Charmcaster think. "Hope." She whispered.

Cooper pulled back from the embrace, somewhat puzzled. "Hope? If that's what you're planning on naming our possible daughter, what if the baby is a boy?"

The silver-haired sorceress simply shook her head. "No." She whispered, thinking of the name her mother gave her. "_My name_, silly...it's Hope." Cooper hugged his girlfriend again; finally he knew her true name.

* * *

After being discharged from the hospital, Cooper decided to introduce Charmcaster to his family.

The young sorceress wanted to help Kevin and Gwen locate Ben, but Max was adamant that she needed to rest and that the others could handle the search. He also told Cooper to take care of her while the others perform the search for their brunet friend.

So, they currently found themselves in front of a white two-story house in Parkview, Charmcaster feeling nervous as hell to meet her new extended family.

"Calm down, Hope." Cooper encouraged as he opened the door. "They're nice people; once you move pass their quirks." Charmcaster took a deep breath as Cooper called out to his family that he was home. The first person to greet them was an older dirty-blond male, perhaps three or four years older that Cooper, who simply gawked at her.

"Hi, Bruce." Cooper greeted. "Bruce, this is my girlfriend Hope." He turned to said girlfriend to continue the introductions. "And, Hope, this is my older brother Bruce."

She gave a polite smile as Bruce continued to gawk. "You mean she's real? Holy shit!" He turned to shout down a hallway. _**"MOM! DAD! GRANDPA! COOP BROUGHT HIS GIRLFRIEND AND SHE'S A HOTTIE!"**_

Charmcaster turned several shades of red as Cooper's parents and grandfather joined them in the hallway, the three blond (and greying) adults just staring at her; it was creepy. "Thank goodness you're not a robot!" Cooper's mother exclaimed as she hugged Charmcaster. At the side, Cooper's grandfather handed his father some money, obviously there was a bet about meeting her. Charmcaster turned her attention back to Cooper's mother, who kept running her hand into the young sorceress' silver tresses. "My...my...Cooper told us you were a lovely girl but he never said how stunning you are! Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Evelyn and the lummoxes over there are my husband, Phillip, and father-in-law, Keith." Evelyn kept a tight grip on Charmcaster's hand as she led her to the dining room. "And you're Hope, right?" Charmcaster nodded, confirming her name to her boyfriend's family. "Welcome to our home, sweetheart!"

Cooper managed to pull Charmcaster away from his mother long enough to help her take a seat for dinner. As Charmcaster was finally feeling relaxed, Keith finally decided to speak, while Phillip went to the kitchen.

"So, _Hope_," Keith drawled with a suspicious tone. "I hear that you're _supposedly_ a reformed villain..."

Evelyn and Bruce looked surprised by the revelation, while Cooper glared at his grandfather for embarrassing Charmcaster in front of the family. Thank goodness his father left the dining room to deal with dinner...

"..." Charmcaster didn't know how to respond. She knew her silence was not impressing Keith and she wanted to be on good terms with Cooper's family – especially for her baby's sake. She took a deep breath and tried to speak truthfully. "Yes, I did perform some things that I wasn't proud of...ever since my father died," hearing the gasp from Evelyn, Charmcaster knew that, at least, her boyfriend's mother didn't think too harshly of her. "And I was raised by my uncle; I didn't make the wisest decisions. Truth be told...ever since my Uncle Hex and I came to this dimension..." Bruce turned to Cooper with a look of surprise to hear that his girlfriend was from another dimension; Cooper only smiled awkwardly. "He was hell-bent on taking over this dimension while I was trying to improve my magic skills to return home and release the inhabitants from a tyrant. I lost my way while staying with my uncle but I regained my senses after making friends with Ben and Gwen Tennyson, and Kevin Levin. They helped me return home to free my people." She turned her attention to Cooper and smiled. "The only reason I'm back here is because of Cooper's help." Evelyn awed at the sweet sentimentality that the girl had for her son.

"Wait a minute..." Keith quirked an eyebrow. "Your uncle, Hex...do you mean Hexlord?" Charmcaster nodded. "Well that explains the lack of judgement." The poor girl didn't know if she should take the comment as a pardon or an insult. She decided to let it slide. "Now my next question..." Keith continued. "What do you see in Cooper?" Charmcaster's jaw dropped, while Cooper turned bright red. Evelyn had a scandalised expression, as Bruce shouted at his grandfather, embarrassed for his little brother. "No, offense, Coop..." Keith tried to backtrack. "But look at her! And considering your awkwardness..."

"Stop." Charmcaster interrupted. "Why wouldn't I be with Cooper?" She stared hard at Cooper's grandfather. "Cooper is a sweet, considerate, smart guy who has shown nothing but compassion and loyalty to those who are close to him. And that so called _awkwardness_ that you claim that he has is just an aspect of his personality that I happen to think is lovable. Any girl should be lucky to be with Cooper."

Bruce and Evelyn praised Charmcaster for standing her guard to Keith's scrutiny. Cooper squeezed her hand, appreciative of her words. Keith's expression softened; he was impressed by how this girl stood up to him and obviously cared for his youngest grandson.

As the mood in the room lightened, Phillip returned with a large platter. He had set it centre of the table. "Hopefully everyone's hungry..." He proclaimed, ignorant of the tense moment that transpired earlier. "I grilled some bison for dinner!" The scent of the meat knocked Charmcaster, making her queasy. Unable to temper her gag reflexes she ran from the table, located a bathroom and began to hurl. Cooper excused himself from the table to check on her.

"Hope?" He stepped inside the bathroom, kneeling next to Charmcaster and started to rub her back to comfort her. "Is this the first time you've had nausea since finding out about the baby?"

Charmcaster nodded. "I must've offended your father by running out like that."

Cooper helped her to her feet and gave her a reassuring hug. "Don't worry about it. C'mon...let's join the others."

After cleaning herself up, once Charmcaster and Cooper returned to the dining room, Phillip was already by Charmcaster's side. "So sorry, Hope!" He apologised. "I never bothered asking your dietary preferences...the scent of the meat must've upset you!"

This caught the young sorceress off-guard. '_He thought he offended me?_' She turned to Cooper who acknowledged her thoughts. '_Well, time to get this over with..._'

"It's not you, Mr. Daniels..." Charmcaster started. "It's me..."

"Actually," Cooper interjected. "It's both of us..."The Daniels' Family looked at them puzzled.

Charmcaster released a nervous breath (which felt like the umpteenth time for the evening). "I'm pregnant..."

Keith quirked an eyebrow. "And Cooper's the father..." Cooper nodded.

"Thank God!" Phillip exclaimed patting Cooper on the back.

"Way to go, Bro!" Bruce exclaimed. "You bag that hottie!"

"Oh, Sweetie!" Evelyn embraced Charmcaster. "You gave us hope with Cooper! We thought the only grandchildren we'd get from him would be androids!"

Charmcaster tried to tilt her head towards Cooper, whispering to him so no one else could hear. "Your family is strange..." She allowed a small smile to slip as the realisation finally dawned on her that her boyfriend's family was accepting of her and the unborn child.

Cooper smiled back. "Don't forget, they're your family now, too..."

* * *

_Yes, okay...Cooper's grandfather is a bit of a stick-up-his-ass jerk – chalk it up to his time as a Plumber._

_I was originally going to name Chamcaster Catherine – a baby name website had its meaning as charming; but I saw The Enemy Of My Frenemy on YouTube (thank you tube!) and learned that her true name is Hope, so I decided to have this detail in my story remain canon to the Ben10-universe._

_Yeah, I know that I mentioned last chapter that this one will include Ben and Jason, but I decided to leave this as a source of comic relief and Chapter 16 (which you can read now!) would be Ben-Jason centric._

_Let us all wish Ben luck with his psycho ex-boyfriend..._


	16. Chapter 16: A Tyrant's Love

_Y'all lucked out...two chapters in one day!_

* * *

**Chapter 16: A Tyrant's Love**

Ben's eyes began to flutter, but closed back. As much as the young teen wanted to wake up, something was telling him to stay 'asleep'; waking would cause nothing but problems. He felt hands caressing his wrist that held the ultimatrix and slight tousling of his hair; he tried to ignore these unwelcomed touches and found himself back in a deep sleep.

What felt like several hours later, Ben felt that he was finally alone and finally 'woke up'. He began to massage his head, trying to nurse the slight headache he had until his hand grazed against something across his forehead. He jumped off of the bed and ran to the nearest mirror, a full-length antique French mirror, seeing that a silver tiara with a teardrop-shaped emerald was on his head. He tried to use his anodyte powers but they wouldn't work. _'Damn it! This thing is a power dampener!'_ He moved for the ultimatrix, but it was covered by a silver-wired gauntlet-style bracelet with small emeralds. _'I can't use the ultimatrix either!'_ He was about to have a panic attack, when an unwanted visitor came into the room.

"Kitten! You're finally awake!" Jason greeted as he leaned closer to embrace Ben. Ben stepped out of his reach, wanting to stay as far away from the psycho who kidnapped him. Jason's reflexes were bit quicker than Ben's and was able to grip his wrist and pull the smaller male into his arms to place a possessive kiss on his captive. Running on fear and adrenaline, Ben managed to push Jason away, wiping his mouth to rid himself of the feeling of Jason's lips against his. "That's no way to treat your fiancé, Kitten…" Jason purred.

Ben glared at him, incredulously. "_FIANC__É__?_"

"But of course!" Jason walked towards the corner of the room that held the mannequin with the white dress shirt and pants. "I even had your wedding attire made already." The older male gave a disturbing enthusiastic grin to the younger one, making Ben's skin crawl. "You will look _smashing_ on our wedding day!"

Ben eyed the outfit with disgust. "I've told you once and I will repeat it until you get it through your thick fucked-up head ― _**I WILL NEVER MARRY YOU!**_"

Hazel eyes narrowed. Jason moved from where he stood and walked towards Ben, a malicious aura washing off him in waves. Instinctively, Ben moved back until his back was pressed against the wall. Jason pressed his hands at either side of Ben's head, cornering the brunet. "And I will repeat this until our wedding day ―_**YOU ARE MINE**_. And we _will_ be married. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get dinner ready. And you _will_ join me for dinner." He pressed a kiss against Ben's cheek then left the room.

Left alone in the bedroom again, Ben slid down the wall and sat on the floor, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall.

* * *

"Kevin, please stop pacing." Gwen was at her limits of having Kevin distracting her from her meditating; she couldn't blame him for worrying about Ben, but she needed complete control of her powers in order to get a lead for the search. "I need to focus my powers to contact Grandma Verdona for her help."

"Well, _excuse me_!" Kevin was annoyed. "You've been at this for five hours and nothin'!"

"Well if you stopped being such a nuisance of a distraction, I would have gotten her by now!"

"Children!" Came a deafening voice. "Whatever it is that you're arguing about could wait…" Verdona's energy form finally materialised in front of the teens, somewhat confused. "Now, Gwendolyn…your message to me was so chaotic I couldn't get the gist of it…what is so important that you needed to communicate with me via the Mana Field?"

"That psycho devrajian ex-boyfriend of Ben's kidnapped him and we don't know where to start to look for him!" Kevin yelled.

Verdona just started at him incredulously. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" She moved towards Gwen and both anodytes assumed a meditative position. "Merge your powers with me Gwen; with our combined powers we should be able to find Ben together."

* * *

Jason was becoming aggravated.

After spending so much time preparing lavish foods and dressing sharply in a designer suit to impress Ben, the brunet just glared at him and pushed the food on his plate with his fork. He tried complimenting Ben on his choice of flared black pants and black dress shirt, only for Ben to continue glaring at him. It wasn't like Ben had a choice on the choice of clothing; all the garments in the room were effeminate in style.

The devrajian released a frustrated sigh. "You cannot ignore me forever."

"I can most certainly try…" the anodyte-hybrid grumbled in response.

"Look, Ben," Jason slammed his hand on the table, making Ben jump slightly and stare at him. "I am trying to make our relationship work…"

"There's no relationship!" Ben yelled. "You abused me, tried to rape me, stalked me, attacked my friends and now you kidnapped me!" He stood from the table and started to walk out of the dining room. "What the hell makes you think I would ever stay with a sick, twisted bastard like you?"

Jason moved after Ben and grabbed his arm. "We're soul mates, Ben." He gritted. "Like it or not, we're destined to be together and nothing will stop our upcoming nuptials."

Ben raised his free hand and delivered a painful slap across Jason's face. Once freed, he ran to his room and locked the door. Jason ran after him and banged against the door maniacally.

"Damn it, Ben! Open this fucking door!"

"NEVER!"

"Fine, you stupid bitch!" Jason growled. "Stay there for the rest of the night! But you need to get this through that thick skull of yours…I'm not giving you a choice; we're going to get married ― whether you like it or not!"

After hearing Jason stomp away from the door, Ben collapsed on the bed; finally, stressed and scared tears were running down his flustered cheeks. Never in his life, did Ben feel lonely and scared. He continued to cry until sleep overcame his body; before losing consciousness, one last thought was on Ben's mind: _'Kevin, I need you…'_

* * *

"It's not working…" Gwen was frustrated and worried. She and Verdona were trying to locate Ben's mana for hours; all attempts to find the young ultimatrix-bearing anodyte were for naught.

Verdona was worried for her grandson, after Gwen and Kevin filled her in with everything that transpired after she left earth after meeting Jason. _'How could I have not seen this?'_ She thought. "I am so sorry, Gwen. I thought us being family would be enough to locate Ben…it would take an immense bond of pure love ― a soul-sharing ― to help us locate Ben now…"

Kevin didn't like the sound of this, not one bit. After all the adventures he shared with Ben, the laughs, the feelings of love, and this was it…he's missing the best thing that ever happened to him because of a psychotic obsession. Just as he was remembering the good times with the brunet hero, he heard a far-off voice ―_'Kevin, I need you…'_

"Ben?" He whispered, but not low enough for Gwen and Verdona heard him.

"Ben?" Verdona repeated.

"Kevin," Gwen grabbed his shoulder to get his attention. "What's going on?"

Kevin closed his eyes, then re-opened them. "I just heard Ben's voice…in my head…"

Verdona's features softened. "You've developed a soul-sharing…" This was a positive direction in their search.

Kevin moved away from the anodytes and ran towards the Rustbucket. "I think I know where Ben is…"

* * *

_And another chapter done!_

_Up next? The Calvary (especially Kevin!) comes to the rescue! _


	17. Chapter 17: Fierce Rescue

_Yes, lovely readers; I finally got another chapter posted!_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Fierce Rescue**

"You know, we should really feel stupid." Gwen stated as Kevin flew Rustbucket III at Mach10. After Kevin finally filled her and Verdona with the details of where he was picking up the mental call for help from Ben, Gwen started to think it over and realised their idiocy.

Verdona gave her granddaughter a quizzical glance. "How so?"

Just then, Kevin smacked his forehead. "Damn it! We should have thought of looking there right away!"

"Why is Paris so important?" Verdona felt like she was missing some details in this search.

Gwen turned to her grandmother to explain. "When Jason tried to propose to Ben," if it were possible for an energy being of Verdona's experience to show an expression of disgusted shock, it was revealed now. "He wanted them to go to Paris." The young anodyte released a sigh of frustration. "Seriously, how dim-witted could we be?"

Kevin stayed silent as he piloted the aircraft into Paris. He already felt stupid and guilty for not coming to Ben's rescue sooner. He just hoped that they would reach the brunet in time...

* * *

"Damn it, Ben! Open this door!" Jason yelled as he pounded his fist against the thick bedroom door. "How the hell are we supposed to plan a wedding if you're refusing to let me talk to you?"

"I already told you – _**I'M NOT MARRYING YOU, YOU ASS, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!**_" Ben yelled back. Once he had woken from his cry-induced sleep, Ben felt infuriated that he was still unable to remove the power dampeners that Jason had placed on his head and over the ultimatrix. He had already spent the most-part of the day trying to figure out how the annoying devises worked and how to remove them, all for naught; Jason yelling at the other side of the bedroom door, still forcing the 'getting married' issue on him made him snap. He contemplated jumping out of the window to escape, but being three floors off the ground and being unable transform into an alien that could levitate or fly made it impossible. His only option now is to keep Jason out of the room and that (hopefully) Gwen is using her powers to track him.

"You fuckin' bitch!" The fist-pounding turned to aggressive kicking. "If you don't open this door now, _**I'LL BLOW IT OPEN!**_"

'_Surprising that the fuckin' jerk didn't do that in the first place…_' Ben thought, as he was beginning to reconsider the idea of escaping by the window. He looked out to see a balcony on the floor below his, towards his right. '_Maybe if I angle myself right, I might be able to reach over there; it could buy me some time to come up with an escape plan. I just hope Gwen can find me…_'

"_**THAT DOES IT!**_"

Just as the door blew off its hinges, Ben managed to jump out of his room's window and successfully landed on the balcony. '_Damn it! I think I twisted my ankle!_' Ben got up to his feet and saw a very pissed Jason glaring down at him. 'I_ better move as fast as I can before that ass-wipe catches up to me._' He tried to ignore the pain as he limped across the room that had the balcony and got out. '_Good, he hasn't reached here yet. Hopefully this luck of mine continues until I can find a way out_.' He continued to limp towards a winding staircase. '_Shit! It just had to be this style stairs…_' As much as his ankle hurt, Ben pressed on with his escape until he reached the bottom of the stairs and made it to the first floor.'_Now to figure out where the exit it._'

As Ben manoeuvred along several hallways, he rested a hand against a wall to help support him. Just as he turned a corner, he slammed against a firm surface, causing him to stumble back. He looked up to realise that he walked into the man he was trying to escape from.

Jason glared at Ben, roughly grabbing the brunet's upper arms, his hazel eyes slowly turning orange. "You are _so _gonna pay for trying to leave me…"

* * *

As Rustbuckett III entered Parisian airspace, Kevin manoeuvred the plane around the high buildings within the city until he landed in front of a huge manor.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Gwen asked. "It seems a little…"

"Extravagant?" Verdona finished. She quirked an eye, giving her a pensive expression."This boy seems a little too…"

"Unstable?" Gwen finished.

"Enough with finishing each other's sentences." Kevin snapped as he walked out of the cockpit and out of the plane; he absorbed the metal of the plane and started to run towards the manor. Gwen quickly picked up speed behind him, with Verdona flying not far behind. "Ben is here, I know it! He needs us now!"

* * *

"Let me go!" Ben yelled as he tried to push Jason away. "I can't believe I was so stupid to believe that you were a good guy and fell for your fake charm; you're nothing but a fuckin' jerk!"

"There is nothing fake about me!" Jason yelled in rage, punching Ben's jaw, forcing the smaller teen to slam against the wall. "I love you damnit!" He approached Ben and grabbed his hair, forcing their eyes to meet. "I tried everything to prove my love, but it wasn't good enough!" He slammed Ben again against the wall. "Did you honestly think that I would give you up? Let you leave me for that fuck-tard loser Levin?"

Ben narrowed his eyes at his abuser. "Kevin is anything but a loser…" he articulated slowly. "And unlike you, Kevin never intentionally hurt me…he's ten-times the man you'll never be…"

It was insult to injury; Jason was in a blind rage that could not bedetained. "Fuckin' bitch!" He ripped Ben's shirt open, lust fogging his mind as he saw the exposed flesh. "If there is one thing that I know for sure about the difference between me and Levin is that I will have your body…" He forced a brutal kiss against Ben's lips, sliding his hands into the smaller teen's pants and bruisingly gripping his hips. Ben tried to struggle, trying to escape the aggressive bigger male; as he struggled, he remembered something Gwen had taught him when she was learning karate.

Positioning his hands strategically and making tight fists, Benstruck Jason's collarbone, making the taller male to stumble back; Ben followed his attack with a knife-hand strike to Jason's neck, punched his stomach, kicked his shin and as Jason was lowering to the floor, Ben delivered a final blow by kicking his chin. Taking advantage of his captor's incapacitation, Ben ran away as best as he could with his injury. After a few more steps, Ben finally located the main entrance to the manor; sighing with relief, Ben pressed on with his escape until he heard a frustrated yell and felt himself propelling forward by an energy attack from behind that knocked him to the floor. Trying to raise his upper body, he turned to see an infuriated Jason, his hands glowing reddish-orange with sparks of electricity – his surge of cosna.

"I gave you the best months I ever had; I showered you with love and devotion; I treated you like a priceless gem...and this is the gratitude I get?" Just as Jason was about to blast Ben, the front entrance and a large portion of the accompanying wall blew up.

"Knock, knock!" Verdona called out. "You know, for someone who claims to be in love, you have a funny way of showing it." As Verdona was about to strike a wave of mana at Jason for hurting her youngest grandchild, Kevin ran passed her; his metal hands forming into the shape of a halberd and a mace. He was in a blind rage as he struck Jason mercilessly.

"Ben, are you okay?" Gwen moved to Ben's side, checking his injuries.

The brunet released a sigh of relief as he hugged his cousin. "Better now that you guys are here." Gwen returned the hug, glancing sideways as Kevin continued with his brutal attack on Jason; considering the maniacal swaying of Kevin's weapon-like arms and the strength behind the blows that he was delivering, it was obvious that the devrajian would be scarred, especially to his face.

Ben moved back from hugging his cousin to watch the fight as it occurred. He was worried about the osmosian, but he seemed to be holding his own in the fight. Each time Jason would project a flow of cosna at Kevin, it would be blocked by the halberd arm or he would dodge the attack completely. Whenever Kevin brought himself close enough to Jason, he would use the mace arm to strike the abusive male across the face or to his chest. Unfortunately, Kevin began to lose energy, allowing Jason to strike him on his chest, forcing him to stumble across the floor towards Ben.

"Kevin!" Ben moved to Kevin's side to check on him. "You crazy idiot; are you alright?"

Kevin gave a weak smirk. "Nothin' too painful…" As Ben embraced him, he flinched. "Okay, I lied; that hurt like a bitch!"

"Stand back guys." Gwen got up to her feet and stood by her grandmother. Her eyes began to glow pink as mana engulfed her hands.

"Let the ladies deal with this uncouth _gentleman_." Verdona gave the boys a devilish smirk as he floated towards Jason, her tendril-hair poised for attack.

Jason glared at the heroic group in front of him. The reddish-orange glow of his powers began to change colour; swirls of dark-red energy and smoke emanated from his hands while the electricity still crackled, joined by flames. His eyes turned dark-red, showing his fury. "I am so done with you interlopers!" He sent forth a powerful blast, ready to kill the anodytes.

"_**CONTEGO!**_" At the last second, Gwen was able to protect herself and her grandmother by conjuring a mana shield. "Ben," Gwen turned her attention to her cousin briefly while trying to maintain her shield. "When this is over, we _really_ need to talk about your choices in suitors. Their personalities _suck_."

"Now's not a good time to be raggin' on Tennyson about his lack in judgement, Gwen." Kevin lectured his anodyte friend as he slowly got up, ready to help fight. "It's not his fault that ass-wipe took advantage of him while he was vulnerable."

While the teens were distracted, Verdona was ushering a series of attacks at Jason; she continued her assault by combing her skills of shooting magenta beams from her eyes and spheres of mana to keep the devrajian off-balance until he stumbled, where she followed her attack by knocking him into the air with an energy beam and then ensnared him with her pink tentacle-like flow of energy hair.

"Well, that was easy." Verdona flaunted. "You kids should've called me earlier so that I could put this little brat in time-out." She turned her attention back to her captive. "And you – you ill-mannered, ill-tempered worm – when you're placed in the Null Void by the Plumbers, you should consider anger management." She turned her attention to her youngest grandchild and asked, "Ben, are you alright?"

The brunet gave the anodyte a small smile. "Just twisted my ankle while trying to escape..."

"Why didn't you use your powers or the ultimatrix?" Gwen interrupted. Ben simply pointed to the power dampener tiara around his head, purposely using his left arm to show the others that a similar dampener was shielding his access to the ultimatrix.

"That explains a lot." Kevin answered. He touched the inhibitors to absorb their metal coating and snapped them away from Ben. The grateful brunet released a sigh of relief and embraced the osmosian. The tender scene infuriated Jason, causing him to release a piercing roar.

"_**Get away from him!**_" He unleashed a surge of his new level of cosna, which made Verdona lose hold of him, throwing her back against a wall. The strength of the attack knocked her out cold.

Gwen moved quickly to attack Jason with spherical blasts of mana. "Kevin, look after Ben." She shouted as she turned her attention to the evil devrajian. "You're so gonna pay for hurting my cousin and grandmother." As Jason threw a series of dark-red, smoke and flame-induced energy at her, she resurrected pinkish-magenta shields and platforms to help her block and evade his attacks. "_**TURBO!**_" She yelled, conjuring a tornado to attack Jason. Instead of the spell grabbing hold of him, the dark-haired man simply snapped his fingers for the tornado to disappear.

The teens were shocked to see the tornado dissipate into air; that was one of Gwen's most powerful spells and Jason stopped it like it was nothing. "I believe what you intended on doing was this…" He created his own tornado of cosna, which picked up Gwen and threw her across the room, causing her to land by her grandmother, unconscious. Jason turned towards Ben and Kevin, giving them a menacing glare. "I just tossed around two anodytes like rag-dolls; what makes you think you'd fair better than them?"

Just as Ben was about to activate the ultimatrix, Kevin stopped him. "Ben, get to the Rustbucket and get out of here."

Ben's eyes widened. "What?"

The raven-haired male held the brunet's shoulders. "Ben, there's no guarantee that I can defeat him, but if I can distract him long enough for you to escape…even get off planet to one of the Plumber bases in the galaxy…I'm fine with that."

"Kevin, wait…"

Without another word, Kevin charged at Jason, his hands transforming into blades. As he got closer to the evil devrajian and was ready to pierce him with the tip of the blade, Jason side-stepped out of harm's way, grabbing Kevin's neck in an agonizing grip. "Did you really think you could take Ben away from me?" Came the cold voice. "I know that osmosians lose their sanity by absorbing energy; it's like an addictive drug. To think, _my beautiful Kitten_ wields the most powerful energy source on his dainty wrist and recently unleashed his inner anodyte; a being _made_ of energy. Let's see if you could ever have a future of Ben when I do _this_!" Jason allowed a powerful surge of cosna release from his core, breaking Kevin's metal coating and forcing high levels of energy to enter his body. As the osmosian's body began to convulse, Jason threw him to the floor. Ben stared at both figures, scared beyond belief.

"I just defeated your grandmother, cousin and boy-toy, Kitten." Jason spoke evenly. "I'll tell you what…if you agree to return to me, _stay with me_…and never see them again...I'll let them live."

Ben didn't know how to answer the demand. He slowly moved towards Kevin's side; Jason thinking Ben was giving his rival a final goodbye.

"Ben, stay back." Kevin whispered. "I might hurt you. I can't control myself after absorbing this much energy…"

"Kevin…" Ben whispered back, moving his hand onto the most important person in his life.

"Ben, don't…" Before Kevin could continue with his warning, Ben rested his hand on Kevin; the waves of cosna that were flaring from his body were now smoking around both boys.

"Ben, what the fuck are you doing?" Jason screamed.

After a moment, the cosna that once inflicted Kevin's body, his body now exhausted from the ordeal, was now contained into a small energy ball floating beside Ben. "What does it look like I did?" Came Ben's cold voice. "I extracted your cosna out of him."

"No one can do that…" Jason exclaimed, alarmed. "Not even the most experienced anodyte knows how to do that!"

"That's only because I had the motivation." Ben moved from his place near Kevin and started to walk towards Jason, the cosna ball floating beside him. "You took advantage of me when I was at my lowest…" The brunet's body began to flicker with a pink aura. "Made me think that you were kind, sweet, romantic…" Kevin gawked at Ben's form; at that moment, Gwen and Verdona had awakened, both anodytes were also staring at Ben, dumbfounded. "Then, you started to treat me like a thing, like something that you can possess…" Ben's pale skin began to turn light pink, slowly turning magenta. "Then you tried to rape me… stalked me…hurt my friends…kidnap me and tried to force me to marry you…" By this time, the figure that was once Ben was gone; what stood in the room was a purple energy figure with a short pink glowing wave in place of the glowing tendrils associated with female anodytes.

"Ben?" Gwen tried calling out to her cousin, worried of what he might do now that he's unleashed his anodyte form.

"What makes matters worse?" Ben ignored his cousin, focusing his attention on Jason, who was now showing fear after seeing the young anodyte before him. "You did the unforgivable; you hurt my grandmother and Gwen, and you purposely tried to make Kevin insane by over loading him with your powers!"

"Ben!" Verdona called out as she saw Ben take possession of the cosna ball and infused it with his own anodyte energy.

"Ben, don't!" Kevin shouted. "If you lose control, you'll lose your humanity!"

Ben paused from infusing the cosna energy sphere with mana; he glared at Jason and muttered, "Consider yourself officially dumped." He threw the energy ball at the devrajian, incapacitating him before losing consciousness.

* * *

_Whew! Finally finished with this chapter!_

_I think there may be another chapter – maybe two – until I wrap up this fic. Special shout out to all you patient readers/reviewers who have read this from day one (wow, almost two years on one story…). It's your support that keeps this story going. XOXO_


	18. Chapter 18  Family Ties

_If you're seeing this update __—__ yes, I've finally updated! I am not dead XP… I wasn't locked away in a mental ward or anything…whatever "ghastly" notions may have crossed your minds you may now remove them, for I am back with a new instalment! Although it's short, it's better than nothing! :)_

_Sorry for the long wait…I was crazy busy with work; plus I couldn't upload anything new because 'supposedly' my Young Avengers fic that was published in April did not 'conform' to 's rules/regulations for story titles/summaries and was removed __—__ which had me in a really funky mood and removed all sense of inspiration to continue writing anything. But with the outpouring reviews from so many of you to continue, I finally got out of my funk and got this sweetie written! _

_Okay, so this chapter is more CharmcasterxCooper centric to alleviate the hard-core bit from the last chapter. In case of any confusion while reading this, I suggest re-reading Chapter 15 (to jog your memories) then going back to this...Also, to alleviate any confusion in regards to timeline with this story, chapters 15 and 16 took place at the same time, the same goes for last chapter and this chapter…_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Family Ties**

After dinner and dessert, and Keith, Cooper's grandfather, left for the night, Charmcaster thought she was ready to develop a headache staring at the small screen that she was sharing with Cooper's parents…

Don't get her wrong; the support and acceptance that Evelyn and Phillip were showing her with gave her a warm feeling and gave her that loving sensation that a family could only give, but observing the various baby websites on the small laptop for the last two hours after dinner made her nervous and feel so ill-prepared for motherhood.

"Okay, Sweetie…let's set up a baby registry!" Evelyn exclaimed; Charmcaster wasn't sure if the blonde woman was addressing her or her husband.

"First of all, Hope, are you going with cloth diapers or disposable ones?" Phillip asked.

Charmcaster simply blinked at the question. "What are cloth diapers?" Her question made the grandparents of her future baby laugh.

"Well," Phillip started, "obviously with disposable diapers, once their dirty you have to throw them away immediately; while with cloth diapers, when you have to change the baby you clean that diaper to reuse at another time." Charmcaster cringed at the explanation. "Judging by your expression, disposable diapers it is!" He laughed. "And you're definitely going to need a lot…and I mean _a lot_…of onesies, shirts, sweaters, pants – probably some skirts if it's a girl – burping pads…"

"How about cribs and changing tables?" Evelyn scrolled unto that portion of Babies R Us.

"Already taken care of!" Bruce called out from the kitchen. He came out eating a steak sandwich and brought a bowl of cut fruit for Charmcaster. "I already placed an order for you guys." He said with a smirk.

Phillip quirked an eyebrow. "You're eating again? We just ate two hours ago!"

"And dessert an hour ago!" Evelyn exclaimed.

"And how did you order baby furniture when we just mentioned the baby tonight?" Cooper puzzled. Sometimes, his older brother was an odd-ball.

Bruce simply ignored his parents' frustrations about his eating habits and lifted his cellphone from his pocket. "Checked out the Sears site after dessert and found a nice Shermag conversion crib, glider chair with ottoman and changing table. Consider it my gift!" Evelyn and Phillip shook their heads in astonishment, while Cooper and Charmcaster moved from their seats to give Bruce an appreciative hug. "Only the best for my future niece or nephew." He whispered to them. Charmcaster pulled back from the embraced, with a melancholic expression.

"Hope, what's wrong?" Cooper asked, holding her face gently in his hands.

"Just thinking about my Uncle Hex…" she looked away; Cooper knew about how Hex practically disowned her and the fact that she had no other family sometimes got to her.

Phillip moved from his seat to take her hand and settled her back into the chair. "It's okay, Hope…"

"That's right, Sweetheart…" Evelyn tried to reassure the silver-haired girl. "Whatever you need, can always count on us…"

Just as Charmcaster was slowly breaking a small smile, Bruce muttered "This is sounding like a Hallmark greeting…" which made her laugh, causing the others to laugh as well.

"But seriously?" She continued, as their laughter subsided. "I'm also worried about Ben…"

The blond family did not know how to respond to this concern. Just as the silence was growing uncomfortable, Cooper's Plumber's badge sounded. As he responded to the call, Gwen's voice cut through the air. "Cooper, is Charmcaster with you?"

"Yeah, we're here at my parents' place…" He responded.

"Is there something wrong?" enquired Charmcaster.

"No…" the relief in the redhead's voice gave them a moment of calm. "We've found Ben; he has some bruises, exhausted but fine. If you want to see him, we're at the Bellwood Plumbers' base."

* * *

_And I shall end things here for now!_

_I will be away on vacation for three weeks so hopefully the tropical breezes of my location will kick my muses with new story ideas._

_There will be two chapters left; one will be posted sometime after my vacation and stay tuned for the conclusion on November 20__th__ (this story's second year anniversary)! The end will make you happy!_


	19. Chapter 19: Endsong

_We're reachin' the final stretch, sweethearts…_

* * *

**Chapter 19: Endsong**

Once his unit reached Paris, Max never felt as agitated as he did, seeing the damage presented to his team. He demanded answers, for which Verdona gave the details, making sure to not leave anything out. _(AU: read Chapter 17 for full details). _Max watched the Plumbers under his command move quickly between the tasks of shackling Jason with power dampeners around his neck and hands before placing him inside a containment cell, as well as tending to an unconscious Ben and the rest of his injured family. Soon, Jason's cell was lead towards a ship, ready to send him to a containment facility.

Max made his way towards his family, resting a hand on Verdona's shoulder; the anodyte turned towards her estranged husband to embrace him. As Max held Verdona, his gaze landed towards Gwen and Kevin, who were staring as Ben was being settled onto a gurney and brought towards the Plumber ship, sending their young teammate to the Plumber's base hospital back home. "Gwen…Kevin…" he called out to the young heroes, getting their attention. "Ben will be alright. We'll bring him back to Bellwood and work together in helping him control his new powers." Verdona was ready to say something, but Max gave her a stern look, meaning for her to not add anything that may upset their granddaughter and the older teen. Max decided to steer Verdona away from the kids, heading towards his own ship, ready to follow their grandson's transport.

Gwen gave her grandparents a sympathetic smile, hoping it would convince them that she believed that Ben would be okay. Looking up at Kevin, the redhead saw how rigid Kevin's stance was. "Grandpa Max is right…" She whispered, lightly touching Kevin's shoulder as a means to comfort him. "Ben will be okay…" She stepped away, pulling out her Plumber's badge to call Cooper and Charmcaster. She knew that their friends were worried about Ben and should be updated on the situation.

Kevin only glared down at her before resorting to stare at Ben's limp form being treated and carried away. If only he could believe that…

* * *

Cooper was enjoying the bonding moment between his family and Charmcaster; between watching the way how Evelyn was so openly accepting of the silver-haired sorceress warmed him, especially how the woman was trying to talk to the foetus in Charmcaster's belly (even though it was way too early to show that the girl was pregnant), Phillip asking Charmcaster her opinion on baby articles from online baby boutiques, and Bruce coming up with silly names to give the baby, it allowed him to forget about the problems with Ben and Jason…at least until his Plumber's badge startled him. As he responded to the call, Gwen's voice cut through the air. "Cooper, is Charmcaster with you?"

"Yeah, we're here at my parents' place…" He responded; Charmcaster stopped laughing with Bruce.

"Is there something wrong?" enquired Charmcaster.

"No…" the relief in Gwen's voice gave a slight reprieve of nerves that Charmcaster felt. "We've found Ben; he has some bruises — exhausted — but fine. If you want to see him, we're at the Bellwood Plumbers' base."

As the transmission ended, Charmcaster quickly got up from her seat and walked towards Cooper. "Let's go."

"Are you sure, Hope?" Cooper was a little surprise at how quickly Charmcaster was ready to visit their missing friend.

She gave her boyfriend a reassuring smile. "If it wasn't for Ben, we'd never have met." She turned her attention her boyfriend's family, ready to apologise for leaving so soon.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart." Evelyn said to the young couple.

Phillip smiled at them. "Go visit your friend."

Without any more pushing, Cooper and Charmcaster left to visit Ben.

* * *

Jason awoke in a strange transport ship. He glanced around, seeing that the ship was filled with aliens with questionable attributes and were shackled together; what surprised him was seeing that he was shackled along with the prisoners.

"Alright, you maggots!" boomed the voice of a tetramand, dressed as a high-ranking Plumber. "It doesn't take a genius to clue in that you filth have finally gotten what you deserved and now you'll be dealing with sentences in Incarcecon!"

'_Incarcecon?!'_ Jason thought, his usually composed self feeling fear for the second time of his life in one day_. 'But Incarcecon is only for hardened criminals! How the hell did dealing with Ben and those losers landed me here?!'_

As the ship docked, Jason was pushed alongside the criminals into his new home.

* * *

As Cooper and Charmcaster arrived at the medical ward in the Plumber base, they were shocked to view what was ahead of them; instead of a family being relieved that a loved one has returned, the Tennyson Family seemed to be arguing over Ben.

"Verdona, Ben is staying with his family here on Earth!" Max yelled.

Verdona narrowed her eyes. "Max, with the power he displayed while fighting Jason, he would be a danger to himself and everyone he cares about!" She argued back. "It would be safer for everyone if Ben continued his training on Anodyne!"

"Ben stays here, Grandma!" Gwen screamed. "We almost lost him already; we're not letting him get swept away from everything he knows to―"

"You're beginning to sound like that stalker," Carl interjected. "As much as I don't like the idea of my only child leaving the planet and his home, Mom is right." Verdona felt smug that her youngest son had some common sense unlike the rest of the family. "Don't get too smug, Mom." Her expression fell. "I agree with you but I don't like it… but Ben's safety is more important than our wants."

"How can you even say that?!" Sandra screeched. "He's our son and his place is with us!" As Sandra's shoulders began to shake and tears started to flow, Natalie moved from her seat to comfort her sister-in-law.

With the family continuing to argue, Cooper and Charmcaster saw Kevin slipping away from the group and entered a room – probably Ben's room. They followed him inside and saw a tired Ben sitting on the bed, knees drawn to his chest, obviously he heard every heated word exchanged between the members of his family.

Kevin sat next to him, placing a comforting arm around the smaller teen's shoulders. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Green eyes met brown; both set of eyes looked tired, scared and confused. "I don't know and it kinda scares me."

Kevin, Cooper and Charcaster didn't know how to respond. For Ben to admit that he was scared…this was serious.

"I just wished that everyone in the hall would stop arguing about what's best for me…"

At that moment, Ben and Charmcaster flinched. "What's wrong?" Cooper asked.

"Gwen and her grandmother are going into a telepathic tirade and it hurts like a bitch."Charmcaster replied, rubbing her temple. "The family's fight over what's best for Ben is getting ugly."

Ben moved from Kevin's hold and moved towards the door. By the way he was moving, it was obvious that he was upset.

"That's enough!" Ben shouted. He expected his family to settle down from hearing his voice, but what happened shocked the brunet. As he yelled those two words at his family, his body released a small energy wave that knock everyone in front of him and behind him to the floor and his words echoed within the space.

Seeing the shocked expression from everyone scared Ben. What really scared him was the dazed expression from Charmcaster; he realised that the young sorceress was pregnant and the release of his powers just now could have hurt her and the baby.

Kevin got up quickly and moved to Ben's side, worried about the smaller male's frame of mind. "Are you okay?"

Ben shook his head. "No…I'm not okay. I could have hurt everyone – especially Charmcaster and her baby because I can't control my powers…" Kevin tried to give Ben a reassuring embrace but Ben stepped away, levelling a gaze at the older teen.

"Grandma Verdona is right," Ben said, sadness clear in his eyes. He turned his eyes towards his family. "If I don't get proper training with my new powers, I'd be a danger to everyone." He gave Kevin an apologetic glance before saying. "I'll be leaving with Grandma for Anodyne."

Ben's announcement had everyone floored, except for Verdona who seemed pleased.

"Are you sure?" Gwen asked. A part of her knew that Ben has probably thought this through; his new powers _are_ unsettling, but a part of her did not want her cousin – _her best friend_ – to leave.

"I'm sure, Gwen." Ben answered, almost a whisper. He turned to face Kevin; the older teen had a furious expression, obviously mad with this decision. "Kevin?" Ben called out to him, but instead of answering, Kevin stormed out of the hospital.

* * *

After giving Kevin time to calm down, Ben eventually made his way to find the brooding teen in his garage. "Can we talk?" The brunet whispers, waiting for Kevin to move his head away from the car engine he was currently working on.

Kevin simply glared at Ben. "I'd say no, but you'd only start talkin' to me anyway." He turned his attention back to the engine, hoping that would end the conversation.

Ben made his way towards Kevin, grabbing the older teen by his shoulder to force them to look at each other. "Kevin, I know that you're upset about my decision―"

"Upset?!" Kevin shouted. "Upset is havin' my ride fucked up in a fight...upset is never seeing to my mother again...this is infuriating!" He held onto Ben's arms, intent on staring into Ben's eyes. "After that shit-ball took you away, I thought I was goin' to go nuts...just as we're figurin' out what we mean to each other and almost losin' that — now, you're goin' to throw that away—"

"Kevin, listen to me..." Ben interjected. "When I was trapped in my relationship with Jason and finally got out, you were my rock ― the one thing that kept me sane...and I love you for that. When Jason infused you with cosna, forcing you to lose your sanity ―I snapped...I couldn't live with the guilt of you becoming insane because of me, which triggered my anodyte form. But it was because of you that I was able to hold on to my humanity when I became an anodyte and stopped Jason for good...but after what just happened in the hospital, I'm dangerous to everyone I care about...especially to you."

Once hearing the sensibility of Ben's words, Kevin melted and embraced Ben close, as though he didn't want to let go. He didn't want things to end with Ben, but it had to. "How long until you have to leave with your scary grandma?"

"Grandma wants to leave as soon as possible." Ben answered, his head resting on Kevin's shoulder. "I just wanted to spend my last moments on Earth with you."

"So I guess we have to make these last moments count..." Kevin muttered.

Ben looked up at Kevin. "What do you have in mind?"

"I want to hear you sing...one last time..."

Ben gave him a sad smile. "Any requests?"

* * *

_And that's another chapter done!_

_Sorry about the delay; this went through a few re-writes until this came out. Hopefully it's to everyone's satisfaction – to an extent._

_In case some of you had the following questions – Incarcecon was the prison first mentioned in Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix. It was mentioned again in episode 17 of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. If you remember in chapter 3 of this story, Ben sang at the karaoke night in Burger Shack – I like to think it was Ben's lovely voice that made Kevin really fall in love with him. I'll leave the "good-bye" song choice to your imaginations..._

_So, don't forget November 20__th__ – mark it in your calendars – Seduced will conclude and I'm sure you'll all be happy!_


	20. Chapter 20: Endings And Beginnings

_Well, darling readers, here we are...the conclusion of Seduced!_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Endings and Beginnings**

_Seven Months Later…_

Gwen narrowed her eyes at Kevin as he worked tirelessly on a universal translator. Ever since she came to his garage with Marcus four hours ago (_AN: Marcus was first introduced in Chapter 12_), the muscular teen had been ignoring them. Marcus told Gwen that maybe they should return later but Gwen was in a stubborn mood. She has reached her limit with patience and decided to yank the translator out of Kevin's hands with mana.

"Hey!" Kevin snapped. "Why the fuck'd you do that for?!"

"Kevin, Ben's been gone for months…maybe you should move on…" Gwen said, trying to keep her calm.

"Shouldn't have said that…" Marcus muttered to her. During the short time that he's known Gwen and the short introductions he had of her friends, he could tell that dealing with someone like Kevin required much tack…that or shut up.

"Move on?!"Kevin was bewildered. "I was in a _relationship_ your cousin, Gwen — how the hell am I supposed to _move on_?"

"You could have started with that double date that I had set up last week with me, Marcus, you and Patrick."

"That obnoxious guy that works at Mr. Smoothy? Thanks but no thanks…"

"Then how about joining us to organise Charmcaster's baby shower?" Gwen pushed.

Kevin narrowed his eyes at the annoying redhead. "That's a chick thing…"

"Marcus is coming…" Gwen folded her arms in a stubborn manner.

"That's only because you probably threatened him…" Kevin retorted.

"That's true…" Marcus answered.

Gwen narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. "Not helping, Marcus."

"Look, Kevin." Marcus said, deciding to finally get involved with the conversation and avoid the scary look that Gwen was giving him. "I didn't know Ben, like you do ―or did — but I'm sure he wouldn't want you sulk all day because he went away…at least consider attending the baby shower just for the fact of having Gwen stop harassing you and sending me death glares…" The last comment earned him a slap at the back of his head.

Kevin smirked, but tried to hide it. _'At least that got a positive reaction'. _Marcus thought as he massaged the bruise.

"I'll think about it…" Kevin finally answered.

"We'll take that as a yes." Gwen smiled. After receiving Kevin's answer, Marcus and Gwen left to visit Charmcaster.

* * *

Charmcaster never believed that she would see the day where so many people would be at her home at the same time…

Evelyn, Cooper, Bruce, Gwen and Marcus came over to plan her baby shower; the young sorceress was now eight month's pregnant but only looked like she was five month along. "Is all this necessary?" She asked, as Gwen was reviewing the baby registry online that Evelyn and Phillip helped to set up months ago. The redhead already started to quickly click on several baby clothes to purchase for her best friend.

"Of course it's necessary, Sweetheart!" Evelyn exclaimed. "Every woman deserves to have a party to celebrate the new life she's bringing into the world!"

When Cooper spoke with his mother two nights ago, he explained that Charmcaster was upset – which was an understatement – about her uncle wanting nothing to do with her, not knowing that she was now pregnant and needed that extra assurance that family could give; Evelyn quickly suggested throwing her a baby shower as a distraction and to show that she has a new family that cared for her.

"I still don't see why we guys need to be here…" Marcus said. Even though his tone was indifferent, he was also clicking on baby necessities like bottles and bibs.

"Moral support…" Gwen answered and rested a kiss on his cheek.

"And save my brother from having this thing be too girly." Bruce muttered, which earned him a glare from his mother. He loved his family, but even he had limits.

As the afternoon progressed, the party plans were basically done. The party would be held in two weeks and the guest list would mainly be the Daniels Family, Gwen, Marcus, _maybe_ Kevin, and a few junior Plumber agents that Cooper had introduced to Charmcaster. Finger foods have been decided to be served; it was only dessert that was left to discuss.

"I was thinking of chocolate cake as dessert." Evelyn pondered.

Charmcaster glanced at Cooper, who flinched at the suggestion; he hated chocolate. "Actually, I'm more partial to carrot cake…" She answered. Gwen quirked her brow at her friend; during the last few months, she has only seen the silver-haired girl eat chocolate. "With walnuts and raisins?"_'Wait a minute…'_ the thought hit Gwen. _'That's Cooper's favourite dessert!'_

"Of course!" Evelyn beamed. "Whatever you want!"

Gwen glanced at Charmcaster who beamed at Cooper; Marcus and Bruce also caught the gaze as well. They all shared the same thought: Charmcaster looked radiant as though in bliss; either it be from happiness by her relationship with Cooper or just the pregnancy glow. All three shared a look and smiled. Suddenly, Cooper's badge sounded a beep.

"Sorry, I have to go." Cooper gave Charmcaster a kiss and headed towards the door; Charmcaster, in turn, had a curious expression for the sudden run.

"What was that about?" Gwen questioned as she saw her best friend's inquisitive features.

"Just something I've been working on." Cooper responded; he wanted to leave the house quickly before Gwen ruffles through his mind telepathically and tells his girlfriend something that he did not want her to know. "I'll be gone for a while, but will be back as soon as possible." Before anyone else could question him, Cooper was gone.

* * *

When Ben first arrived on Anodyne, it was cause for celebration, for a male Anodyte hadn't been born in almost half a century. Ben was enjoying his extended family, meeting his father's half-brothers and sisters — even getting along well with his newly discovered romance-crazy cousin Sunny, but in Ben's heart, he still felt empty inside. Hearing Sunny's wild escapades with her lover, Antonio, made Ben miss Kevin every passing day. Even with his new extended family and some new friends practically showering him with compliments about how well he's adapting to his new powers and how well he has control over them, he longed to be with Kevin.

"You know…frowning doesn't look good on Anodytes…" Sunny joked, startling Ben from his thoughts.

Ben sighed. "I just miss Kevin…" he tried smiling for Sunny's benefit. "I guess I'll eventually get over it."

The female Anodyte simply scoffed. "Kevin's your sweetie back on Earth, huh?" Ben nodded. "And you gave him up to make Grandma Nutcase happy by training here?" With another nod from Ben, Sunny smacked him at the base of the back of his head.

"_**OW!**_" Ben rubbed the painful area. "Why'd you did that for?!"

"That's because you're an idiot." Sunny folded her arms. "Let me tell you something that I've learned from my boyfriend, Antonio — love is precious and fleeting; you have to embrace it and cherish it."

"That's actually…profound..." Ben mused.

"Yeah, I know. He's such a romantic!" Sunny gushed. "Now get back to Earth and give that lummox of yours some lovin'!"

"What about Grandma Verdona?" Ben questioned. He didn't want to upset or disappoint his grandmother.

"Leave Grandma Nutcase to me…" Sunny gave a mischievous grin and flew to where Verdona was conversing with her parents. "Hey! Mom, Pop, Nutcase!" The adults turned their attentions to the volatile young girl. "I'm heading to meet Antonio and try to make some babies!" She flew away, knowing that the idea of her carousing with the young troll-like alien would rile them up enough to follow her.

"What?!" The adults shouted. They took off, trying to stop Sunny. Yep, following her…so predictable…

Ben simply shook his head, almost laughing at his cousin's crass distraction for his escape. "Thank you, Sunny." He told her, telepathically. He felt her smile through their connection.

"Anytime, Cousin." Sunny responded. "Now a real thank you would be meeting your man and going on a double-date!" Sunny laughed, as she dodged Verdona's attempt to catch her, completely distracted from Ben's path to Earth.

* * *

As he travelled through the underground tunnels of the manor at the edge of town, Cooper knew that if Charmcaster found out that he was sneaking into Hex's home, she would freak out. With the baby due soon, Cooper figured he should try to talk some sense into the old mage about reconciling with his niece so that the child would know both sides of its family.

Travelling further into the tunnels, the temperature began to feel warmer, as though he was reaching an entrance. What he was not expecting was a blast of energy aiming in his direction, that he barely managed to dodge in time.

"Interloper!" Hex bellowed, glaring at Cooper. "You dare to enter my domain?!"

Instead of answering right away, Cooper pulled out a firearm and shot at Hex; Hex dodged easily, but did not expect the projectile to actually be a heat-seeking slug that entrapped him a neutralising energy net. "You can struggle all you want," Cooper stated coolly as Hex tried to escape. "But that net is Plumber-issued and designed to hold some of the most powerful energy users." The young blond moved closer to Hex, ready to have a serious conversation. "Now, about Hope…"

"The foolish child revealed her true name to a lowly being such as yourself?" Hex questioned. "She has gone soft."

"Well, considering that we're in a committed relationship and expecting our first child together…" Cooper answered.

"Hope is pregnant?!" Hex was perplexed over this news. "How far along is she?"

Hearing the softness in Hex's voice, Cooper knew this conversation would be civil and released the net. "The baby should be due in a few weeks, which is why I'm here now." Cooper steadied his gaze at Hex. "You're Hope's only living family and she misses you, _a lot_― you have no idea how upset she's been the last few months; you might not approve of me or her other friends, but do you think there's any way to move pass that and be there for Hope and our kid?"

Hex had a distant look in his eyes. "A baby..."

"Yeah,your grand-niece or grand-nephew," Cooper sighed. "Hope refuses to find out which it would be; she claims that we should be surprised when it's born."

Hex had a slight smile. "Hope is a powerful sorceress. It would not be surprising if she already knew."

Cooper held back a laugh, knowing that it could be true. "I know it would mean a lot to Hope if you came to her baby shower. It's in two weeks."

Hex began to walk away from Cooper, heading back towards the manor's underground entrance. "I will think about it."

Cooper simply nodded at the response; it might not be a direct yes ― could possibly be easily a no — but having the old mage talk to him civilly was enough for him ― for now...

* * *

_Two Weeks Later..._

"What am I thinkin' goin' to this thing?" Kevin mumbled to himself as he drove out of the Babies 'R Us parking lot and heading towards Charmcaster's baby shower.

Last night he was planning on spending the day working on a particle accelerator (more like moping about Ben) until he received a text from Gwen reminding him about the shower. As a means to avoid an annoying redhead coming to his door and harass/drag him to the party, Kevin caved at her subtle demand and woke up not long ago to buy some diapers, pacifiers and some toiletries for Baby Daniels.

As Kevin continued his drive, he spotted a spark of light crash into the woods. "Gwen can't kill me if I got too distracted by a shooting star or alien invasion..." He mused as he steered in the direction of the mysterious thing. Once he reached into the woods and parked his car, Kevin had a shock of his life, seeing familiar brown hair and toxic green eyes.

"Jeez, months of learning to fly on Anodyne and I crash returning home." The brunet mumbled, dusting off some dirt from his clothes.

"Ben?" Kevin called out, stirring Ben from his musings to stare back at him.

"Kevin?!" Ben ran from his spot into Kevin's arms, instantly relaxing in the warmth of the older teen's arms. "What are you doing out here?!"

Kevin pulled back from the hug to look at the smaller teen. "I should be asking you the same question."

Ben blushed. "I sorta...kinda...ran away ― or should I say flew away ― to be with you."

Kevin drew Ben back into the embrace. "You crazy kid ― everyone's gonna freak seein' you again. Actually I'm on my way to meet everyone now."

Ben glanced up to look at brown eyes, curiosity obvious in his eyes. "Plumber mission? God...I miss those..."

"Actually, I'm on my way to Charmcaster's..." Came the response. "It's her baby shower today." Kevin smiled down at Ben and steered the smaller teen towards his car. "Come think of it, this is the best time to spring your return to everyone." Ben laughed as Kevin escorted him to the car and drove to Charmcaster's.

During the ride, they caught up on each other's lives; Kevin telling Ben about his projects at the garage and with the Plumbers, while Ben told Kevin about his training on Anodyne and meeting his extended family. Before they knew it, Kevin pulled into the driveway of Charmcaster's home, getting his gift out of the car and dragging Ben alongside him to the door.

"I'm kinda nervous seeing everyone again." Ben confessed.

Kevin rang the doorbell before planting a kiss on the mop of brown hair that he loved so much. "It will be fine."

After a moment, the door finally opened. "It's about time you got here Kevin, I was about to send a search party―" Gwen started until her gaze changed direction. "Oh my God..._**BEN**_?!" She screeched and lunged at her cousin, wrapping Ben in a tight hug, as though she were afraid to let go.

"Hi, Gwen." Ben hugged her back.

"What ― Ben?!" Cooper called out and ran towards the door. "You're back?" Everyone else came running behind him, gapping at their returned friend.

Ben gave a shy smile. "Yeah, I'm back." He looked around the room, seeing familiar faces. "Wait a minute..." He paused, realising a missing face in the crowd. "Where's Charmcaster?"

"Coming!" Called out the silver-haired sorceress. "Just moving slower than usual due to the extra baggage." She smiled, rubbing her swollen belly.

Ben moved from Gwen and Kevin's side and hugged the pregnant girl. "Sorry for crashing the party..." He murmured. "By the way, you look radiant."

Charmcaster smiled at the compliment. "Thank you and don't worry about crashing. Evelyn provided more than enough food to feed an army."

Evelyn walked over, shaking Ben's hand and focused her attention on Charmcaster. "Only the best for my first grandchild," she said as she led Charmcaster back into the couch. "And how many times have I told you since this morning ― call me Mom or Grandma? I want to hear Grandma all the time!" This caused Cooper's family to laugh, leading others to laugh as well.

Cooper had an embarrassed expression and whispered to his friends. "Sorry about that...my mom is nuts." They all smiled, trying to placate the young blond Plumber as they followed him into the living room with the rest of the guests.

The party continued with much excitement; food was consumed and gifts unwrapped for the new parents to enjoy once the baby arrived. As the party began to unwind, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Cooper said as he got up to answer the door. As he opened the door, Hex stood, unsure if he should enter the home.

"Uncle Hex?" Charmcaster called out, shocked to see her uncle at her home.

"Yes, Niece..." Hex stated, hesitantly walking into the house and kneeled by Charmcaster's side. "Your mate had paid me a visit not long ago and told me about your...condition..." Charmcaster sat in her seat gaping between her uncle and her boyfriend. "And he said other things that made me realise that I've been an old fool. You are my niece; the last reminder of my brother and you are carrying the next generation of our family...and I would like to be a part of your life, as well as part of your child's life...if you'll let me..." Charmcaster couldn't say a word, tears flowing freely. She stretched in her seat to hug her uncle, finally feeling closure to the emptiness that she felt.

Upon seeing the family reunion, most of the guests decided to take their leave. Gwen, Kevin, Marcus, and Ben started to clean up the mess, while Hex and Charmcaster decided to catch up with their lives and introduced him to Cooper's family. As the conversation continued, Charmcaster began to flinch.

"Sweetheart," Evelyn gave Charmcaster a look of concern. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Charmcaster responded. "Just a slight discomfort."

"Actually, I've seen you flinch a few times before." Ben said, also giving her a concerned look. "Are you sure you're not having contractions?"

"Possibly..." The silver-haired sorceress answered.

"If that's the case," Cooper said, helping her to stand and escort her towards the door. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

Without any argument, everyone piled into different cars and followed Cooper's vehicle towards the Plumbers base's medical centre.

* * *

"Cooper, you bastard! You're gonna pay for doing this to me!"

Everyone flinched, hearing Charmcaster curse Cooper for the fiftieth time as she entered her eighth hour of labour. Max eventually joined the group in the waiting room and tried to calm everyone as they waited for the birth to occur.

"Ben?" Max stuttered, stunned to see his youngest grandchild with the group. "When Gwen and Keith (_AN: Cooper's grandfather was introduced in Chapter 15_) told me everyone was here waiting for Charmcaster to have the baby, they never mentioned that you were here."

"Yeah," Ben gave his grandfather a sheepish look, then held onto Kevin's hand. "I missed everyone and just came back." Max gave Ben a knowing look, especially after seeing the grasp that the young man had with the older teen. He patted Ben's shoulder and took a seat next to him. "What did Verdona say when you told her that you were coming back?"

Everyone stared at Ben, waiting for an answer. "Yeah, about that..." Ben started, almost fumbling with his response. "I kinda just left...without telling her..."

"Grandma is _so _gonna rip you a new one when she realises that you're gone." Gwen stated, shocked at Ben's confession.

"You don't know the half of it." Came a stern voice from the hallway. "Young man, you have a lot to answer to for taking off the way you did."

"Grandma?!" Ben was ready to freak out, especially when Verdona marched across the room and grabbed her youngest grandchild by the wrist. "What are you doing here?"

"Taking you back to Anodyne." Verdona stated furiously. "Although you have become quite proficient in your powers, you're no way near the level to be considered as having complete mastery of your powers."

"I want to stay here, Grandma." Ben wretched his wrist away, leaning towards Kevin for comfort. "I want to be with my friends."

"Correction," Verdona glared at Ben and Kevin. "You want to be with _him_." She jerked her thumb at Kevin, not pleased with the upcoming argument_. 'What is with these kids choosing love over mastering their powers?' _Verdona thought.

"Before, you say or do anything rash, Verdona..." Max interjected. "Maybe we should talk ― in private?" Verdona sighed and followed Max out of the room.

"That was intense." Marcus muttered. Gwen simply nodded in agreement and turned her attention to Ben and Kevin.

Both boys had a worried expression, as though their future was hanging in the balance ― which it was, considering Verdona's involvement in the matter. Hopefully Max would be persuasive enough that Verdona would let Ben spend some time on Earth before taking him back to Anodyne.

Time just seemed to pass forever…Max and Verdona had yet to return from their chat and Charmcaster's curses at Cooper had reached an all new level as she had gone into her tenth hour of labour.

"Poor Coop…" Bruce said as he heard some colourful curses coming from the delivery room. "There's no way that chick's gonna let him touch her again."

The comment lightened the air a bit, until Max and Verdona re-entered the room, somewhat dishevelled. The Anodyte approached the young ones in the room, holding onto Ben's hands and lifted him off his seat.

"I've had a —_lengthy_—discussion with your grandfather just now…" Verdona started; Ben held his breath, waiting for the worst. "And we've come to an agreement that I'll be continuing to supervise your training..." Kevin got up from his seat, ready to argue, until Verdona raised a hand to calm him. "…here on Earth."

Ben couldn't answer; he wrapped his arms around his grandmother. "Thank you." He whispered, then threw himself into Kevin's arms. After so long, they would finally be together.

"What made you change your mind?" Kevin asked; he didn't want to look a gift horse in its mouth, but he had to know.

Max straightened himself as Verdona chuckled. "Max was _very_ persuasive, as usual."

The room was quiet until realisation dawned on them. "Max, you ol' dog…" Keith quirked an eyebrow at his old friend and colleague, while the kids squirmed uncomfortably at the mental image that was conjured.

"_Ahem_…" A voice came from the door, interrupting the group. A doctor stood in their midst, ready to address the group. "Just to let you know, Mr. Daniels and the young lady had just welcomed their new baby into the world. I would like to invite _close family members first_ in meeting the new addition."

"It's okay doctor." Cooper said, almost startling the doctor. "They can all come in; I'm sure Charmcaster would be okay with that." Cooper turned back into the room; his parents and brother following close behind, followed by Hex, Gwen, Marcus, Keith, Max and Verdona. Seeing that Ben and Kevin weren't following, Gwen turned to face them.

"Aren't you two coming?" She asked.

"We'll be there soon." Kevin answered.

"Yeah," Ben agreed. "We don't want to overwhelm Charmcaster so soon after giving birth."

Gwen shrugged her shoulders and turned to enter the room. Charmcaster looked exhausted, but happy as Hex held the small baby.

"What did I miss?" Gwen whispered to her grandparents; they looked mesmerised by the small bundle that was passed from Hex's arms to Cooper's.

"Everyone…meet Catherine Hope Anna Daniels." Charmcaster said, still exhausted.

"She's beautiful." Evelyn gasped, ready to hold her granddaughter. Cooper side-stepped from his mother, taking a seat by the edge of Charmcaster's bed.

He sat there, awe-struck by the new life he helped create. The small blonde baby, finally opened her eyes to reveal a soft lavender colour, speckled with sky-blue; it was like she had him in a trance. "Daddy's little siren, huh?" He said in a low voice.

"Siren…" Charmcaster mused, hearing the word from Cooper's lips.

"Congratulation," Hex said, patting the boy on his shoulder, effectively knocking him out of the trance. "You have continued a proud family tradition of a father gifting his child their spell-bound name."

The room was overcrowded with well-wishers, gazing at Catherine / Siren. The voices mingled, keeping to hush tones as Charmcaster finally succumbed to sleep and Keith took his turn holding his great-granddaughter.

"Hey," Marcus remarked. "Where are Ben and Kevin?" Everyone in the room began turning their heads — this way and that ― looking for the young male Anodyte and Osmosian.

"They should be here by now..." Gwen whispered. "What's taking them so long?"

* * *

Two bodies lay intertwined under a bed sheet of rough cotton in an unknown hospital room, away from prying eyes. After many hushed _"I love you"_, moans and gasps, they finally separated from the afterglow of their first intimate encounter. Kevin pulled away, resting on his back on the lumpy mattress, then manoeuvred Ben close to him, the brunet resting his head on the broad shoulder of the larger teen.

"Wow..." Was the only thing that Ben was able to utter after catching his breath.

"Yeah, I know." Kevin breathed out, smiling like an idiot. "I'm awesome." Ben slapped him on his shoulder, making Kevin wince. "Okay! Joking..."

"So, where do we go from here?" Ben looked up at his lover, curious about their future together.

Kevin smiled, making Ben's heart swell. "In case the condom broke and I got you pregnant, I have a speech ready for your parents about askin' for your hand in marriage ― as long as your dad doesn't go all _'shot-gun in the back'_." The comment earned him another slap on his chest. "Okay, another bad joke ― I'll stop ― but seriously?" he took Ben's chin into his hand and so that brown eyes gazed at green. "I don't know about you, but I'm in this for as long as you'd tolerate me..."

Ben leaned over to kiss Kevin. "Then I guess this is for the long haul..."

"I guess so." Kevin kissed back.

They continued to cuddle together, thinking about their future ― ignorant to their family and friends looking everywhere for them.

* * *

_Here we are…finally the end of this tale._

_In case you were wondering about the baby's name…Catherine was the name I was about to give Charmcaster as her true name until the episode "The Enemy of My Frenemy" was released; also, funny enough…the voice actor (actually actress) for Cooper from the original series was named Catherine!_

_Many thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited, from its conception in 2010. It's been one hell of a roller coaster ride writing this fic, but was worth it to make you guys happy._

_XOXO_

_Otaku Maiden_


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